The Other World
by Ignira of Esperon
Summary: A creepy cult tries to kill Isaac to suppress the great power they sense in him, but he ends up in a totally different world. Meanwhile, the team tries to find a way to save him. First fic, R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Chappie to da One!

A Few Unexpected Surprises

Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun. Or Tony the Tiger.

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IOE: UWAH, UWAH, THE FIRST DECENT GS FIC THAT I SHALL POST!

Feizhi: sarcastically claps hands Yaaaay. What am I doing here?

IOE: You're one of my favorite GS chars, so you're my little intro buddy. And yes, I'm going to demolish the personality the game gave you, and give you a new one.

Feizhi: I don't think you can do that…

IOE: WATCH ME! Anyway, hello everyone, lovely to see you all…even though I can't see you. I had so much fun planning this fic, and I hope I can finish it! I also hope the writing's grrrrreat!

Feizhi: You aren't Tony the Tiger.

IOE: Yeah, but I'm also not named Ignira or from Esperon. And you're not real.

Feizhi: Touché?

IOE: Anyway, on with the fic! And yes, it's yet another GSIII adventure! But, unlike most of the other ones, we're not going to travel all over Weyard to mess around with a Silver Moon, or with Alex, the shmexiest man known to games.

Feizhi: Just write already.

IOE: Yes, 'm. begins typing

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Chappie to da One: Unexpected Surprises

The order had started many years ago in secret, in the city of Tolbi. It was in secret because they greatly feared persecution for their beliefs, and the strange powers they gained. It was called the Order of Olympus, but instead of worshipping all of the gods in Olympus, they worshipped four: Poseidon, God of the Sea, Ouranous, God of the Sky, Chronos, God of Time, and Hades, God of the Dead.

Three months after the actual unleash of Alchemy, the news of the rising of the Golden Sun had reached Tolbi. Many people were confused and afraid. This also made sense to some, for a strange power had been bestowed on many people. When the Order of Olympus heard about this, they were filled with great wonder, and decided to send a few of them to New Vale and see this thing.

After a few weeks of traveling, four members of the order had arrived. They stood around uncomfortably for a few minutes together by a pond with a giant rock in the middle, wondering what to do next, when they realized that the people rebuilding the town nearby were staring at them all. This wasn't unusual; since the cult had decided to come in their special black robes decorated with the symbols of the gods, and had been stared at in past towns, even chased out of places. It was odd, because they had feared wearing their robes in public for so long because of persecution, and now they were wearing them about in public.

"Interesting wardrobe. Who or what do you think they are?" one of them heard a voice say.

"I dunno…a cult?" Said another voice.

"They look lost. Should we help them?" said the first voice.

The priestess with the symbol of Chronos on her robes sighed with annoyance and looked over at the direction of the voices.

A handsome, dirty-blonde haired boy was standing under a tree, talking to his friend, who was sitting down eating an apple, and had very tall, red hair.

"You do that. I'm going to finish this apple. Oh, and I think they can hear us, because the short girl's looking at us." said the redhead.

The priestess of Chronos quickly turned away.

She heard the boy standing up mutter something to the redhead, and then she heard the dirty-blonde's footsteps.

He tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around.

"Hello!" he said, smiling. The Chronos priestess looked him over. He was dressed like the common farm boy, and even had some hay sticking out of his hair. Of course, if it had been tucked into his hair, instead of sticking out like it was, it would have blended in perfectly. She also noted that his eyes were a very bright cerulean, yet they held unknown wisdom.

The other members of the order had turned around by now.

"Yes?" the priestess asked.

"You look lost. Do you need some help?" he said.

The priestess bit her lip, wondering if she should ask the question the order needed an answer to.

"We are looking for Mount Aleph." she said.

The boy cocked his head. The priestess thought that he was wondering why they wanted to see it.

"That sank into the earth when the Golden Sun rose." he said uncertainly.

The members of the order looked a little disappointed.

"Where is this Golden Sun?" asked the priest of Poseidon.

"You can't see it," said the boy, "When it 'rose', it was actually just a great flash of light."

The cult shifted their feet uncomfortably.

"How do you know all this? What is your name?" asked the priest of Hades, narrowing his eyes.

"I saw it, sir. My name is Isaac, and that's my best friend, Garet." he said, pointing at the redhead, who seemed extremely interested in the dandelion poking out of the grass.

"What are your names?" asked Isaac.

The priestess of Ouranous stepped forward. The priestess of Ouranous was a tall, slightly plump woman with long, thick blonde hair.

"We are the Order of Olympus. I am the Head Priestess of Ouranous, the God of the Sky. My name is Miranda." she said.

The priest of Poseidon, a proud old man with a thick beard stepped forward and bowed.

"I am the Head Priest of Poseidon, the great God of the Sea. My name is Triton." he declared in a booming voice.

The priestess of Chronos was a short woman with dark skin and short, black hair. She curtsied in a very dignified way.

"I'm the Head Priestess of Chronos, God of Time. You can call me Phoebe." she said, smiling.

Finally, the priest of Hades bowed. He was a very young man with dark hair and horn-rimmed glasses.

"I am the Head Priest of Hades, Lord of the Dead. Please, call me Priest Charon." he said, smirking.

Priestess Phoebe shot a venomous look at Garet, who was trying hard not to make a comment or laugh. His hands were clamped tightly over his mouth. The Priest of Hades' named sounded like 'Karen', usually a girl's name, and he must have thought this very funny indeed. Isaac quickly turned around and frowned at Garet, trying to signal to him that he was being rude, and then turned back to the order.

Priestess Phoebe then noticed Priestess Miranda's look. She was staring very interestedly at Isaac. At first, Priestess Phoebe wondered if the priestess of Ouranous was actually infatuated with this boy, for he was much too young for her, and she had taken the vow of Chastity anyway. She turned back to the boy, who was standing around uncomfortably when she realized it. This was no ordinary boy. He had an overwhelming aura of power.

"I see you are not a normal boy. You have received a very large sum of this 'Alchemy'." observed Priestess Miranda.

Isaac cocked his head.

"Well, I've trained in Psynergy for many years…." he said bashfully, scratching the back of his neck.

"'Psynergy'?" asked Priest Triton.

"It's the elemental power gained from Alchemy, like this." said Isaac, extending his hands toward the ground.

"Quake." he said quietly.

A blue aura of energy surrounded him, and three parts of the earth rose and fell. There was a slight rumble. And then his blue aura dispersed.

He turned back to the order.

"Uh…so…yeah. Well, it was-"he began to say, but then a girl with auburn hair approached them."Well, if it isn't Isaac displaying his Psynergy to tourists! Show-off!" she said, laughing and punching the boy's shoulder.

"Um…hi, Jenna. These people were just asking about the Golden Sun." he said. Jenna looked over at them.

"Oh, hi! I'm sorry, but Isaac's mother needs him to help with supper, so he needs to get home now!" she said apologetically and bowing.

Priest Triton frowned. He didn't find girls in skirts bowing polite. This girl was wearing a skirt.

Isaac turned to Jenna.

"Oh? Well, sorry if you all were disappointed. I hope this hasn't caused any inconvenience." he said courteously.

Phoebe wondered if these people normally had dinner at this time of day; it was only early afternoon.

Garet walked right over.

"Hi, Jenna." he said.

Priestess Phoebe was irritated by the rudeness of Garet not noticing herself and her colleagues, and said:

"Well, thank you for your help, Isaac. I think that it is best that we check into the inn before dark." she said, and then smiled, and finally yanked her companions by the robes, scurrying them to the building with a wooden sign on it that said 'Inn.'

ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED

Jenna watched the strange people in robes leave.

"Interesting wardrobe. Who are they?" she asked.

"The Order of Olympus or something. They wanted to see the Golden Sun." replied Isaac.

"I said: 'Hi, Jenna.'" said Garet irritably.

Jenna ignored him.

"Suspicious-looking bunch…." she muttered.

Garet leaned towards Jenna and waved his hand.

_"Hi, Jenna."_ he said.

"I SEE YOU, GARET!" screamed Jenna. Garet jumped back and held up his arms for defense.

"Um…right, so weren't you working on the riverside house with Felix?" asked Isaac.

"Felix got hit with a piece of wood that 'accidentally' slipped from my hand when he accused me of _something_. He's out cold, and I went to get help." said the Flame Master, shaking her head.

"What'd he accuse you of?" asked Garet.

"Um…shouldn't we be hurrying to save him…?" asked Isaac anxiously.

"It can wait…" said Jenna darkly.

Both boys raised their eyebrows. Just what had Felix accused her of?

Suddenly, a young boy with red hair dashed into the village.

"Everyone, everyone! A caravan is approaching Vale!" he cried excitedly. Isaac recognized the boy instantly as Aaron, Garet's younger brother.

People stopped doing their work and looked over at Aaron with wonder.

"A caravan?" asked an old woman.

Suddenly, a girl, a little older than Aaron, with red hair ran into the village, and bumped into Aaron by mistake.

"The words 'Master Hammet's Fabulous Trading Caravan' are painted on it! It must be the famous merchant from Kalay himself!" she exclaimed. Isaac recognized her as Kay, Garet's younger sister.

"Oh my!" said the old woman.

People began to gather at the gate of New Vale and chatter excitedly.

Jenna, Isaac, and Garet joined the crowd, craning their necks for the first look.

"There it is!" cried Aaron, pointing.

And sure enough, a long caravan was approaching New Vale fast, and the purple and blue letters painted on the sides could be seen.

"Wait…if it's Master Hammet's caravan, couldn't that mean…?" said Garet.

"Oh! Ivan, of course!" exclaimed Jenna, bringing her hand to her forehead.

_'And not just Ivan,'_ a voice in their head said quietly, _'but I am coming as well.'_

All three adepts jumped.

"Master Hamma!" they all said at once. This earned them some looks from bystanders.

The caravan pulled to a stop just outside of the village. And sure enough, Master Hammet climbed out of the head of the caravan, followed by Ivan and Master Hamma. They slowly walked towards the village. Men climbed out of the caravan, carrying enormous loads of stuff behind Master Hammet and his company.

They reached the village gates and everyone cheered.

"People of New Vale! News of your plight has reached me, Hammet, the founder of the great city of Kalay! Well, I owe certain adepts," he said, smirking at Garet and Isaac, "of your town a great debt, and so, I have brought my finest workers and their materials, and together, let us restore the proud city of New Vale!"

A great cheer came from the crowd.

"Yes!" shouted Isaac, jumping.

Master Hamma and Ivan smiled in a similar way.

The workers stopped, one foot behind Hammet, and waited for orders. He responded by pointing at the village. The crowd cheered again, and the workers rushed to the village. The crowd immediately followed the workers so that the workers would know where to put what where.

Isaac, Jenna, and Garet waited patiently for the crowd to die, and Hammet, Ivan, and Master Hamma approached them.

"That was brilliant!" said Isaac, grinning from ear to ear. Master Hammet grinned.

"Wasn't it? I owed you anyway." he said.

"Now the town will be rebuilt in no time!" said Garet happily.

"Hamma, Ivan!" exclaimed Jenna, rushing up to the Jupiter Adepts and giving them both a tight hug.

"It's great to see you two again!" she said, happily.

"Same here." said Ivan with a half smile.

Suddenly, a hand appeared on Jenna's shoulder. She looked behind her to see its' owner. It was Felix, with a pulsing red lump on his forehead. He was the full and complete vision of _'pissed'._

"Jenna…" he said through gritted teeth.

Jenna quickly turned to Ivan, Master Hammet, and Master Hamma, who all had raised eyebrows.

"Won't you come for tea?" she asked weakly, turning pale. Felix's hand on his sister's shoulder tightened.

"Yes, won't you? Ivan, Hamma, Hammet…it has been too long…." he said, smiling. His face became much kinder.

"Jenna, we're going to have a chat later." he muttered to the Flame Master through gritted teeth under his breath.

ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED

After an afternoon with tea and much chatter, the two Jupiter Adepts and Master Hammet said they had to go and check in at the inn. They bid the two Venus Adepts and Mars Adepts goodbye, and the other party said the same. The two Masters and the apprentice left, disappearing into the twilight. Jenna quickly took the dishes into the kitchen, avoiding Felix's gaze.

"So…what'd you say that got Jenna so mad?" asked Garet bluntly.

Isaac heard the sound of Jenna pausing in cleaning the dishes to listen in.

"Oh, so she told you why she attacked me? I told her she would have to share her room with our mother while we paint our mom's room." said Felix smoothly, looking Garet in the eye.

"That's odd;" said the Mars Adept, "Because she said you accused her of something."

Isaac looked around the room uncomfortably.

"Did she? Can't imagine why." Felix said. Then the talk turned to other things while Jenna finished with the dishes.

Isaac knew Felix was lying. He wondered why Felix would lie about something as unimportant as this.

When Jenna finished with the dishes, she reentered the room.

"It's getting late, you two. The sun's set." she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Really? Hadn't noticed." said Garet, not taking his eyes off of Jenna.

"We should get going." said Isaac, smiling. Jenna returned his smile.

Garet, Isaac, and Felix stood.

"Take care," Jenna and Felix said at the same time.

"See ya, 'round, Isaac." Jenna said with a half-smile.

Garet and Isaac left the house.

On their way home, Isaac noticed Garet give him a look.

"What?" he asked.

Garet feigned innocence.

"Huh? Did ya say something?" he asked.

Isaac narrowed his eyes.

"Garet…" he said.

"Fine," Garet sighed, "It's just that…Jenna's hardly been noticing me lately, and…and…." he trailed off.

Isaac's eyes widened.

"Garet, do you…_like_ Jenna?" he asked.

Garet's eyes fell to the ground.

ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED ED

End-Chappie!

So'dja like? Not like? Try not to flame to bad, and review prweeeease! I'd love to hear what people think of my writing!

Feizhi: It's crap.

Shut up, purple-hair! Anyway, I'm out like a fat kid in dodge ball 'till next chapter! Oh, and I hope to update these things one chapter a week at most. And I'm going on vacation soon. Hopefully, I'll make it to chapter 2 before I'm gone for a week.

Ahahaha…I kept imagining Hammet saying: "MOVE THAT CARAVAN!" (from Extreme Home Makeover) Sorry if I made Felix seem like a cold-hearted bastard. I don't really imagine him like that, but this wasn;t his best chapter. XD

PEACE!


	2. Chapter 2

Chap ala Two

IOE: Hey, everyone! I was pleased to get reviews! First note: No, I'm not going to have OC/MC pairings. I don't know where you got that idea…. Second: As I said, I was on vacation for a week, so I couldn't update. Well, here's the second chapter!

Feizhi: I'm crying with joy.

IOE: That's it. I'm getting another buddy.

Feizhi: Thank God, I'll be outta here.

IOE: Actually, you're staying, but I'm adding a new one on.

Feizhi: Crap.

IOE: And I'm not letting you near anything you can commit suicide with, so forget about weaseling out of this.

Feizhi: GOD DAMMIT!

IOE: Anyway, on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun. Every time I say that I die a little inside.

IOE: Oooh! Oooh! One last thing! You may notice that the names of the cult peeps are the names of moons from the planets named after their deities. They actually gained these names when they entered this faith; they aren't their original names. Oh, and please have sympathy for the amulets used later on in this chapter. I tried really hard to think of good amulets that could be used for attacking and could also resemble their Gods. Just a note.

Feizhi: Shut up and start.

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Jenna plopped down on a chair next to her brother.

"Thanks for covering up for me," she said. It began to rain outside.

Felix looked at his little sister, and gave a half smile.

"You are my sister. But you know, some day some one else is going to realize you're too fond of him." he said, sighing. His arms went behind his head and he leaned back in his chair.

Jenna's eyes went to the floor.

"I know…. But at least you're not all over-protective. I thought that if you ever found out, I'd be locked in some dungeon forever." she said. The slightly comical image of an older Jenna leaning over to a door came to mind.

_"Can I please get out now, Felix?"_

_"No."_

_"Please?"_

_"(Sigh) Well…okay."_

_"Really?"_

_"Hell no."_

_"Damn."_

She chuckled a bit to herself.

"Well, I realize there's nothing I can do about your little crush on Isaac, anyway." said Felix, slowly falling asleep.

_Isaac…._ thought Jenna, thinking about the cerulean-eyed boy. Jenna leaned back in her chair, too, and her eyes slowly closed. Perhaps the slowly-growing rain in the twilight was having a tranquilizing effect on her. She didn't know. But it felt very peaceful as she fell into a light sleep.

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

High Priest Triton sat in the small room he and the high priest of Hades shared. He frowned. The room was small, and filled with shelves of books and quilts. It was the maids' way of making sure that the guests had an overwhelming feel of comfort. Triton felt more like he was suffocating in the warm colors on the walls and on the quilts imposing on his form.

He looked at Charon, who was finishing up saying prayers to the God of the Dead. Priest Charon had cleared a small spot on the floor, and had set up his small altar with oil lamps on either side. He sat cross-legged, extending his arms and muttering his prayers. Triton had already finished his prayers, which were much shorter than Charon's.

He was now waiting impatiently for Charon to finish praying. He had sensed great power in the boy they had met earlier, and did not like one bit of it. The boy appeared to be in his late adolescence, but the power in him was too great for his age. This was unnatural, and Triton wanted to do something about it.

Finally, High Priest Charon had extinguished his lamps, and stood. He stretched, having been sitting on the floor in prayer for hours.

"High Priest Charon," Triton said sharply, "Please be so kind as to bring the High Priestesses Phoebe and Miranda immediately."

Charon nodded, bowed and left the room. High Priest Triton was an elder; one of the original _and_ remaining founders of the Order, and thus deserved much respect. So, if he asked for something, it was to be done.

High Priest Charon returned shortly, with Priestesses Miranda and Phoebe behind him. Miranda had a serene look on her face that she always had, and Phoebe looked solemn, as usual.

All of them carefully sat down. All of a sudden, it started to rain outside. High Priest Triton paid no mind.

"That boy," he said, "Something must be done. Iccarus, or…Isaac, that was his name."

They all nodded.

"I, too, sensed the great force inside of him. Such power in such a young boy could cause anarchy. He is not responsible enough for this," said Priestess Miranda.

"I must fully agree." said Priestess Phoebe.

The two High Priests nodded.

"How are we to take it away from him?" asked Phoebe.

"There is only one way to take away something like that forever. We kill him." said Triton smoothly.

"Which one of us will do the deed?" asked Miranda.

Charon shook his head.

"Obviously, he cannot be killed easily. His energy would repel the energy we try to use on him. It will have to be all of us, overpowering him. We should use our sacred amulets, blessed with our respective deity's power. That should be enough." said Charon, speaking for the first time.

Triton, Phoebe, and Miranda nodded in agreement.

"Well done, High Priest Charon, it appears that your time spent studying in all the years you have has not been in vain." said Triton.

"Shall we do it now, then?" asked Phoebe.

"Yes, I think now would be the best action. Please go to your room, Priestesses, and obtain your amulets. We will all meet outside the inn. I suggest that you wear your hooded robes, for it is raining as you might have noticed." said Triton.

The High Priestesses rose, curtsied, and left the room.

Triton and Charon changed into their hooded robes, and then Triton took his amulet from his bags, and held it in his hands. Triton held a heavy, old Trident scepter. Charon held a garnet stone ring. By the time they reached the door of the inn, the High Priestesses were already there. High Priestess Phoebe held in her hands a rusty sundial. High Priestess Miranda reverently held a telescope in her hands.

"How will we find him?" asked High Priest Charon.

"Follow his overwhelming aura." said High Priestess Miranda simply.

They began to walk. People would have stared at them, but the rain was steadily falling, so they couldn't see what the holiest members of the Order were holding. The High Priests and Priestesses silently walked north.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 

An anxious knock came from Master Hamma's door.

"Yes? Come in." she said.

Ivan burst into Master Hamma's room, holding his staff.

"Hamma! Sister! We have to find Isaac _now!_" said the young Jupiter Adept urgently.

"What's wrong?" asked Master Hamma, reading her younger brother's thoughts.

And in an instant, she and Ivan were dashing out of the inn.

C C C C C C C C C C C C 

Isaac's eyes widened. Garet, his best friend, _liked _Jenna, their childhood friend.

"You don't like her, too, do you?" asked Garet quietly. It started to rain.

Isaac smiled.

"Of course not. But really, you should tell her how you feel. Maybe she likes you back." he said, trying to comfort his friend.

Garet looked at Isaac as though he had asked Garet to break into Jenna's house.

"I like my head where it is." he said.

Isaac laughed.

"Yeah…well, um, let's get home, then. We'll catch a cold in all of this rain." said Isaac nervously. He wasn't comfortable with this conversation. Besides, the rain was getting worse and worse.

"Okay." said Garet. The two friends continued walking together.

After a few minutes, Isaac stopped.

"Look," he said, pointing, "It's those people we saw today. They're heading this way."

Garet looked and scowled.

"I'd rather not hang with the Cult of Cuckoo. Let's take a different route." he said, walking to the right.

"Wait! There's Ivan and Hamma! They're running after the cult!" said Isaac, squinting in the heavy, icy rain.

"What?" asked Garet.

O O O O O O O O O O 

Meanwhile, Ivan and Hamma were running as fast as they could after the Order. Hamma had read their minds and told Ivan that the Order knew where Isaac was.

"Wait!" said Ivan, pointing. Hamma stopped.

"I see Isaac and Garet! We'll teleport there! Sister, take my hand!" said Ivan. Hamma ran to her brother and took his hand.

Ivan closed his eyes and concentrated on his destination. Multicolored lights glowed around him and his older sister, and when they stopped, the two Jupiter Adepts were standing right next to Isaac, who jumped.

"Ivan! What're you-"he began to say, but Ivan interrupted.

"Isaac, the Order of Olympus is coming this way. They want to kill you!" the midget Adept said.

"What!" said Garet and Isaac together.

A purple jet of light shot up and hit the group of Adepts.

Ivan tried to move, but realized he couldn't. He couldn't blink or breathe. And then he realized. The raindrops in front of his face weren't moving either. They all were somehow frozen in time. Except for Isaac, who looked at his friends with horror.

"Guys! What's happened!" he asked.

Ivan realized that though time was frozen where he was, he was still able to see what was going on outside of his frozen spot. He could not die, he could not move, and he could not send a telepathic message to Isaac. The only part of him that wasn't totally _stopped _was his consciousness.

"They are stopped in time. I didn't really expect for my amulet's power to work on you alone." said a voice. Ivan couldn't move his eyes to see who was talking.

Isaac looked at the source of the voice.

"You!" he said, his eyes wide.

"Isaac of New Vale," said an old man's voice, "Prepare to die."

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

Isaac couldn't believe his ears.

"Why?" he asked, "What have you done to my friends?"

"Do not fear," said High Priestess Phoebe, "For I have merely frozen them in time. We did not want any interference. They should be back to normal once the deed is done."

"We do not believe that such power that you own belongs in someone as young as you. And to suppress this power, your death is necessary." said Charon.

"What're you talking about! I've just built up a lot of Psynergy from training for a long time!" said Isaac.

"Why are we wasting time talking to him? Just kill him now." said Phoebe.

Isaac couldn't believe how serious these people were about this.

Freezing rain poured down, and Isaac shivered. The cult members held out their hands. Each was holding something, but Isaac couldn't tell what it was. They all said prayers in a language Isaac couldn't understand, saying words like 'Piss I den' and 'Oar and hose.'

Several beams of light shot out of whatever they were holding and hit Isaac. He screamed in agony; there was so much pain that he was feeling. Several attacks had hit him at once. He fell to his knees.

"Keep hitting him!" said Charon.

They said their prayers again. Isaac suddenly had a vision. He was in a desert and on a hill. He could see a small village below. And then the vision ended, and he was back.

_What was that!_ he thought. Isaac panted, and then he heard a voice.

"Isaac!"

He turned around.

"Jenna!" he said.

There was another blast of pain as the attacks hit him again. He groaned. Pain surged all through his body.

"You bastards! Searing Beam!" Jenna screamed.

There was a flash of light over the cult. They cried out.

Isaac had the vision of the hill in the desert again.

"What…?" he said.

Jenna ran to Isaac's side. She kept calling his name, but his vision was blurred and his ears buzzed. She was crying.

Suddenly, Isaac was taken by surprise as she pressed her lips to his.

And then everything was gone. And he was in the desert again.

But this time, he didn't come back to the awkward kiss in the freezing rain. He waited. He could feel his cheeks burning in embarrassment. Why had Jenna done that in front of everyone? He didn't have any romantic feelings for her. And poor Garet. His heart was probably broken by now. Perhaps Jenna had thought that Isaac was dying. Well, it certainly felt like he was even now. The pain was terrible, and it drew greatly on his energy. It was hard to breathe. Was he dying?

"Can't…be…not…now…." he said, struggling to crawl to the village he saw. He wasn't strong enough to stand.

It was useless. He couldn't go anywhere, not in this state. His only hope was for someone to find him. He tried to call out, but it only came out as a whisper. His vision blurred over again. He collapsed. Isaac tried to fight his eyelids; they were trying to close.

And then he saw it. Big, white things had come up the hill and were right in front of him.

_"Baa,"_ they said. Sheep.

"Hey, what's this?" asked a voice.

And Isaac blacked out.

C C C C C C C C C C 

"Isaac! Isaac!" Jenna cried, tears pouring down her face and mixing with the rain. He had disappeared into thin air.

She stood.

"What did you do!" she screamed, shaking with rage.

The blonde woman's eyes were wide. The strange people seemed surprised.

"What happened to him?" she asked.

"I don't know." said the man with glasses.

"HOW DARE YOU!" said Ivan. Jenna looked over. Garet, Master Hamma, and Ivan were here. Jenna had never seen all of them so mad. Ivan was shivering, but Jenna doubted it was only from the cold. He was very angry, his face contorted in a rage Jenna never thought she'd live to see him in.

"High Priest Triton," said the blonde woman,"I think we are all too tired to fight these people. We should flee at once."

The old man-Jenna guessed he was High Priest Triton- nodded. He looked at the short girl with dark skin and muttered something. She then nodded, and muttered to the item she held in her hand.

"No, wait!" said Garet, running at them.

A great gust of wind threw itself at the strange people.

"No one gets away with hurting my friends. No one." Ivan said harshly.

Suddenly, a purple jet of light zoomed at them.

"Not again!" said Garet, right before the light hit them.

Jenna could not move. The raindrops in front of her did not move. The cult ran away, like cowards. She tried to move, or shout something, but couldn't even breathe.

She waited and waited for the nightmare to end. She couldn't move. And Isaac never appeared.

_Isaac, what's happened to you!_ she thought despairingly.

Finally, the rain around her fell again. And she could move. The first thing that came out of her mouth was "NO!" Garet continued running, and he was gone. Jenna, Master Hamma, and Ivan didn't even bother; they knew the strange cult had been long gone.

Jenna fell on her knees. She cried and cried. Master Hamma knelt down and hugged the Fire Adept, whispering condolences, but Jenna wouldn't listen. She held Hamma's robes tightly in her hands and cried. Isaac was gone. The people who did this to him were long gone. And she couldn't have stopped it from happening. Master Hamma stayed with Jenna until she stopped crying.

"Don't worry, young Jenna," she said, "In the morning, we'll find them, and we'll find Isaac. I promise."

"I don't want to wait until tomorrow. I want to find him now. We're all going to my house, and we're going to come up with a plan." said Jenna strongly.

Hamma smiled sadly. The rain was lessening quickly.

"I understand that you are upset, but in the morning, you'll be able to think more clearly." she said.

"No. I'm fine. Please, Hamma," pleaded Jenna, "I love him." She felt a little embarrassed saying it, but it was true, wasn't it? She'd seen Isaac on the ground and in pain. Jenna had believed he was mortally wounded, and so she had done the one thing she'd always wanted to do to Isaac before either of them left this world. She wondered if Isaac had wanted her to kiss him, or if she had done something stupid.

Hamma sighed. And Jenna was back to earth.

"Well, alright. Come on, let's find Garet." she said, helping Jenna up. Jenna saw Ivan looking at the trees in the distance. He must have felt awkward. Jenna felt a twinge of embarrassment.

Hamma squinted in the distance.

"I think I see him." she said.

Ivan walked over, seeing that the drama had ceased. He squinted, too.

"Yep, that's him." he said, and closed his eyes. After an explosion of multi-colored lights, he was gone. Jenna saw the flash of many colors again far off. After a few seconds, the flash happened again. And again, this time a few feet away from Jenna and Master Hamma.

Garet and Ivan were standing where the light had been, and Jenna almost laughed. Garet's hair was soaked, and it no longer stood above his head in spikes. It was a mess of red hair sitting below his head.

"Ha ha, Garet got soaked!" she said, laughing. She felt like her old self again. Garet's eyebrows furrowed.

"Hey! Check out _your_ hair! It's a copper mess." he said. She mock-frowned.

"Shut up." she said, and motioned for everyone to follow her to her house.

XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD

A golden-brown-haired boy was lying unconscious in a bed. An old man and a young girl sat next to it in chairs, watching the boy.

"When do you think he'll wake up, Grandpa?" the girl asked.

The old man shook his head.

"I don't know." he said.

And then, the boy stirred. Isaac opened his eyes.

0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0

IOE: Oooh, was that what you call a "cliffhanger?"

Feizhi: How should I know?

IOE: (shrugs) Yes, so please Read and Review. Oh, how the drama overwhelms! (Sings) He loves her, but she loves him. And he loves somebody else you just can't win. That's kind of how this is, except Isaac likes someone he can win. And I promise I won't mess with any other pairings, so it won't be over-the-top drama! I'll only mess with Jenna, Garet, and Isaac for drama. Promise.

Feizhi: Would you shut up? No one wants to hear you go on about your stupid drama!

IOE: (sniff) I like to hear myself talk, okay?

Feizhi: Ugh. So how go the auditions for your buddy?

IOE: Nobody showed up. So I'm kidnapping somebody.

Feizhi: Oh, that's nice.

IOE: Whatever. Yeah, and Isaac is a little more…well, less insensitive than most boys, if anybody's wondering why he's taking the Garet and Jenna thing at all. And Jenna is the umber-emotional teenager a lot of people meet. I hate and love writing her, but I want her personality to not be stronger than the other personalities. Oh, and all you shippers: I like writing for most pairings and I have no problem with writing for Valeshipping. However, this "Love Triangle", I guess it is, creates mucho drama, so I'm writing it like this. Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW, AND THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING THE LAST CHAPPIE!


	3. Chapter 3

Chappie the Third

Exposition time!

Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun. Sad, isn't it? And I don't own Finding Nemo.

IOE: Hey, everyone! Thanks for reviewing! I got me another buddy! And I am terribly sorry for the immensely late update; I went on vacation earlier than expected, and I was grounded a few days before we left, so there was no way I could warn you. My bad!

Feizhi: (prays) Please be a human buddy, please be a human buddy….

IOE: Anyway, the new buddy is a djinni!

Feizhi: (gets on knees) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

IOE: (ignoring) Presenting: Flotsam, the Mercury Djinni!

(Curtain opens) (Cute little Mercury djinni hops out)

Feizhi: (eyes widen, mouth waters) It's…so…cute…. (Runs to it) YOU ARE MY SQUISHY! (UBER glomp-age)

IOE: Whoa. Um…okay. Well, here the little guy is. Now, I'm sorry, I love Valeshipping, but I also love Mudshipping. And in this one, I am using Mudshipping. Um…so…here's…the chapter….

Flotsam: (in small voice) Help…meee.

IOE: (blast of fire)

Feizhi: AAA! FIRE! (Runs around)

FS: Yay! (Hides in Ignira's pocket) And now, our feature presentation!

Isaac opened his eyes. He was lying on his back in a bed. The room was small, with a dresser and two windows. He looked at the people sitting near his bed. One of them was a bald old man with glasses and a mustache. He had a fine tan. Isaac thought he looked like Kraden, only with a tan and less hair. The other was a very young boy; Isaac estimated his age to be around six. He had short tan hair and his skin was just as tan as the old man's. Isaac thought he looked a little like a desert boy version of Sheba. Both of them leaned over once they saw that he was awake.

"Well, hello there, lad. Are you feeling better?" asked the old man.

"I found you when I was out grazing with our sheep. You looked terrible, so I brought you here." explained the boy.

Isaac sat up. He felt very refreshed.

"Yes, I feel much better. Where am I?" he asked.

"You are in the village of Mani. My name is Carver," said the old man.

"Yes, I am Isaac," said the Venus Adept, and turned to the boy, "Thank you for saving me, little boy."

The boy's eye twitched. He clenched his fists. Isaac wondered why he had angered the boy. Carver laughed.

"_She_ is my granddaughter," he said.

"And I'm not little," said the girl, "Once I get a little older, I'll be really tall. Just you wait. Besides, I'm eleven. Oh, yeah, and my name's Kiri."

Isaac felt embarrassed for misestimating the girl's age and gender.

"Sorry. Um, but where am I? I don't even know what country I'm in." he said.

"Tarnilla." both people said together.

"What! Is that near Gondowan?" asked Isaac. Perhaps he had never visited this village. It looked like it was in Gondowan because of the color of people's skin.

But both people cocked their heads.

"What is Gondowan?" asked Carver.

"It's a continent and country. There are cities and villages in it like Tolbi, Lalivero, and Kimombo," explained Isaac, remembering places he had visited.

Carver and Kiri exchanged confused looks.

"Um…have you ever heard of the late Babi, the mayor of Tolbi? Or the Suhulla Desert?" Isaac asked hopelessly. He expected the two people to say something like "Oh, yeah, I have."

"Mister, my father was a great merchant. We traveled all over the world. I have never heard of any of the names or places you said," said Kiri, crossing her arms.

Isaac's eyes widened. In Venus' name, where the hell was he?

"Do you have a map?" he asked. Carver nodded, and brought down a map that had been sitting on a picture frame on the wall. He walked over to Isaac to show him.

Isaac looked at the old map. The paper had been ripped in places, and the paper was brown, but he could still see the figures and names on it. There was a large continent that somewhat resembled a chair. It was named Assyr. Below it was a skinny, horizontal continent labeled Tarnilla. To the side of Hack and Assyr was Mikagay. To the southeast of Mikagay was Erro. To the west of northern Assyr was a very small country called Kirko. And below Kirko was Halspien.

This didn't make any sense. None of these continents were the same name or shape as the ones he had known and been to. He was in an entirely different world. He looked at the faded letters at the top of the map. Erutun.

"What!" he said in frustration.

"Grandpa, do you think his memory has been rattled?" asked Kiri.

"Possibly." replied Carver under his breath.

"No, no! My memory's fine!" assured Isaac, and then he recounted the events that occurred shortly before Kiri found him on the hill.

He deliberately left out Jenna's spontaneous kiss. He didn't want to think about it; it meant too many things. It meant that Garet's feelings were definitely ignored, and that Jenna might expect him to take her in, which he would not, only having feelings of friendship for her.

Unbidden into his mind, the image of a certain blue-haired girl in Jenna's place appeared. And Isaac, trying hard not to blush in front of Carver and Kiri, quickly pushed it out of his mind.

Kiri spoke.

"Grandpa, what do you make of it? I think I believe this guy." she said. The old man put a hand to his chin.

"Well, I'd say it's either a very extreme case of mental illness, or he's telling the truth. But how did he end up here?" he asked himself.

Isaac's stomach growled.

Carver looked up.

"Oh my! Where are our manners? I'll make something in the kitchen for all of us; I'm a bit hungry myself." he said, stood, and left the room.

Kiri jumped.

"Yay! I'm hungry, too!" she said, and ran out of the room.

Isaac sat in the bed for a while, thinking. He could hear pots and utensils moving around from what he assumed was the kitchen. He sighed. They reminded him of Dora's, his mother's, cooking. He wondered if she'd already known that he had disappeared. He wondered if the others were trying to find him, or maybe get revenge on the Order.

And then he remembered something that they had mentioned. They had mentioned that he had a great amount of power. Yes, that was true, but his friends were just as strong as he was from their long, long quest. Why was he so special? If they could sense the Psynergy he, Isaac, had, they would have been able to detect Jenna's, or Garet's power. They had encountered them, too, yet they were after Isaac in particular.

The sound of someone entering the room dispersed Isaac's thoughts. He looked up to see Kiri. She walked in and sat down.

"Grandpa says I have to keep you company while he makes lunch. He says I'll get in the way," she explained irritably.

"Wait…it's around the middle of the day?" asked Isaac, hearing the word "lunch." How could that be? He remembered when he had first come to Erutun, it had been daylight then, too. But it had been night in Weyard.

"Yeah, I know. It's hot. You can get out from under those covers; I'm sweating just looking at you," said Kiri, making a fanning motion with her hands. Isaac did feel very warm, so he got out from under the covers and sat up on top of the sheets. He noticed that he was still wearing the clothes he wore in Weyard before he came here. They were covered in dust.

There was a bit of silence. So Isaac tried to break the uneasiness with a conversation.

"Where are your parents? Are they on a-"He began, but Kiri interrupted.

"My father died three years ago. I never knew my mother. Bandits raided our caravan. He tried to protect me, and died. I couldn't save him. I didn't have enough power to take on the bandits. They had powers, too," she said quietly. Kiri's voice was silent, and had a different sound to it, as though she were about to cry.

"'Powers?' You mean Psynergy?" asked Isaac, trying to keep the girl from getting upset. Kiri nodded.

"Yeah. There are a few people in Erutun who can use one of the four elements to wield magic. Most people use time, death, the heavens, or the sea for magic over here. I'm a Uranus Proficient. Watch." she said quickly, getting excited. She picked up a wooden staff that had been sitting on the ground. It was very thin, and at the top of the staff, the stick curled into itself, like a lollipop, only onto one side.

"I made this myself," she said eagerly. She tapped it on the ground, whispered, "Float", and slowly drifted to the ceiling. Isaac could see she had a purple swirling aura, instead of the blue one Adepts had. He could also see a ghostly hand lifting her up, the same one that moved objects in the Move Psynergy. Kiri struck a superhero pose. He smiled and clapped.

Kiri laughed, and let the ghostly hand gently set her down.

"Anyway, my family tried to decide who I should live with. They argued a lot, and finally decided I should live with Grandpa," she said quickly.

Carver walked in with a tray of tea and sandwiches.

"Kiri, are you showing off? I thought I heard something bump the ceiling." he asked his granddaughter. Kiri grinned and dropped her staff.

"No, Grandpa. Hooray, lunch!" she exclaimed, and rushed to her grandfather.

"No, young lady, we serve our guest first." he said.

Carver set down the tray on Isaac's lap, and then he wiped his brow. He then walked out of the room, explaining that he would get trays for the both of them.

Kiri fidgeted in her seat, looking at her meal on Isaac's tray like a wolf on a cornered lamb. Finally, Carver came back with two trays, and gave one to Kiri, who took a cup of tea and a sandwich on her tray. Carver did the same, except less hastily. He then set the teapot on Isaac's bedside table.

Isaac bit into the sandwich. It tasted excellent, but he couldn't tell the substance that was in it. It tasted good, however. He then glanced at his tea when he finished. He didn't want to drink something hot when it was the hottest part of the day, but he took the cup to his lips. He took a sip; it tasted wonderful.

Carver chuckled.

"Like that? It's green mint tea. Our village is known for making fabulous green mint tea," he said.

Isaac took down the tea. It wasn't very hot, and the mint felt very cool in his hot, dry mouth. It

When he finished, he sighed in relief and let himself slowly fall onto the wall behind him. He sighed again in relief. He felt very relaxed.

"So, how is he going to get home?" asked Kiri, and the good feeling was gone.

XCXCXCXCXCXCXCXCXCXCXC

Jenna, Felix, Garet, Ivan, and Master Hamma all sat in the living room of Felix and Jenna's home. When Felix had awoken from his nap, he had noticed that Jenna had merely gone out and gone about his business. Their parents had come home shortly after he had awoken, and gone straight to bed; they were very weary.

He now sat on a couch, listening to Ivan explaining what had happened. When Ivan had finished, there was silence in the room.

"Well, what do we do?" asked Garet.

"Obviously, we find the cult." said Felix. He looked at his younger sister. She looked very upset; it looked as though she had been crying. She also had dark circles under her eyes. He decided that they should decide what to do as quickly as possible, so that she could get some rest.

"Easier said than done," snorted Garet, "We don't know where they are."

"We can ask around the towns. From what you described, it's not as though they wouldn't attract attention," replied Felix calmly.

"That sounds like a good idea," said Ivan. Jenna nodded.

"Great. Let's start tomorrow!" said Garet.

"Well, then, I bid you all a good night," said Hamma. Ivan said the same, and they left. Garet just said "'Bye," and left.

When they were gone, Jenna gave a sigh of relief and fell on the sofa she was sitting on with a _wumph!_ She was fast asleep. Felix smiled and let her be. He then headed upstairs to his room, where he packed his things. But even then, he just wasn't tired. The nap he had taken earlier had really taken away most of his fatigue. He sat on his bed staring at his walls, and then an idea came to him.

He headed into his sister's room, and packed _most_ of her things for her, not wanting to even look at things she wore that were for her gender only. However, her shirts, skirts, other clothes, and other necessary items were all neatly packed in her bags.

Now finally weary, he settled himself into his own bed, and sleep slowly took him.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Isaac, Carver, and Kiri had been taking a long time trying to figure out what they should do to get Isaac back to his world.

They now sat in silence. They had come up with no ideas whatsoever. Carver sighed in irritation, his head in his hands. Kiri stared at the wall. Isaac slouched in his bed, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, and frowning.

And then a familiar voice echoed in the room.

_"Well, if it isn't Isaac again…."_

All three looked up. Isaac remembered that voice.

The room darkened. Carver and Kiri cried out. It was pitch black, suddenly, and a familiar, hovering, one-eyed, boulder appeared in the center of the room.

"Wise One!" exclaimed Isaac. The boulder moved downward a bit and then back up in what Isaac guessed was a nod.

_"I went through quite a lot of trouble to get into this world, young Adept. My authority is only meant for Weyard's dimension. I see that you are in need of assistance,"_ the Wise One said.

"Who is this, Isaac?" asked Carver. The boulder turned to him.

_"I am the Wise One. I am an omniscient being as old as the ages, and I have come to Isaac's aid,"_ he said.

"But why me, Wise One? You said you went through a lot of trouble to get here, and just to help me?" asked Isaac, scratching his head. He had become too accustomed to talking to the Wise One. At first, he had been filled with awe, but now it was more like seeing someone you've bumped into now and again. He could sort of make our Carver and Kiri in the darkness; they looked a mix between fear and wonder.

The Wise One turned to Isaac and lowered his eyelid a little, which must have been its way of smiling.

_"I cannot give you reasons for why I am going to all this trouble, for I want you to discover this on your own for my own reasons…"_

Isaac frowned. Once again, people were dropping him oblique hints that didn't help much.

The Wise One continued:

_"…Anyway, you must use the way you got here to get out. You don't belong here. Venus, Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter are the capital ruling existences in your dimension. Here, Saturn, Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus are the capital ruling existences. There are four shrines to these existences guarded by their keepers in this world. You must obtain an item blessed by the existence itself from each shrine. When you have all four blessed items, combine your power with them, and then touch all of them at once. This will take you home. Do you understand, young Adept?"_

Isaac nodded.

"Wise One, why am I here?" he asked.

_"When the cult tried to kill you, they all attacked you at once, did they not?"_ asked Wise One.

"Yes," said Isaac, shuddering at remembering the excruciating pain.

_"When they did so, their attacks tried to disperse your life, and you Psynergy. When their attacks contacted your Psynergy, it enacted a teleportation from your dimension of Weyard to this one."_ said the Wise One.

Isaac nodded. That seemed to make sense, but something didn't feel like it fit.

"So when their powers all came together with my power of Venus, it opens a portal? Why is that? And do you know why they left my friends, who are just as strong as I, alone?" he asked. If the Wise One was omniscient and indeed an ally, then he was the only one Isaac knew would know the answer to his last question.

_"No, that is not…entirely the reason. I will not explain why, for it isn't really the most important thing at the moment, and you must discover so for yourself. That is all I can say to your curious mind._

_"I am afraid that it is time for me to take my leave. Find the shrines. Find the objects. Go home. Until next time, Young Adept."_ said Wise One, disappearing.

"No, wait!" Isaac called, reaching out, but the Wise One was gone. The room returned to its normal state.

"Well, that wasn't the most helpful of floating rocks. He didn't tell you where the shrines are." said Kiri, rolling her eyes.

"Kiri! That was a most hollowed figure, and deserves respect." hissed Carver.

"I suppose I'll just have to travel all over Erutun until I find them all." said Isaac, shrugging.

"My boy, that would be most dangerous! Besides, Erutun is enormous!" Carver said.

"I've traveled all over Weyard, which is just as large. I am also a very skilled Adept." assured Isaac.

Kiri shook her head.

"No way. Grandpa, I want to go with him. I know where all the shrines are, after all, from my travels with Papa," she said.

"Kiri, you are eleven, and Isaac is a man. If it is too dangerous for him, then-" Carver began.

"We both have powers," Kiri protested, "And Papa will be watching us."

At the mention of Kiri's father, Carver lessened.

"I will not allow it," he said softly, "And that's final."

Kiri grumbled something that rewarded her with an ushering to her room.

Isaac stood up and stretched. Carver came back in.

"Alright," he said, "I have some armor and weapons my…my son used to sell and ended up here. You can use them, they're just a little dusty. I'll buy you a change of clothes, and anything else you'll need. Perhaps Kiri will lend you some of her herbs; she has a stock of them in her room to take with her when she herds the sheep in case of wolves."

Isaac nodded.

"Thank you. Would you happen to have any maps that I could borrow?" he asked.

Carver sighed.

"I'm afraid that all I have is the one we just showed you," he said.

"Ah well. May I have it anyway?" asked Isaac.

"Of course," replied Carver. He removed the map from its frame.

"It is very old, so be careful, but don't feel bad if something happens to it; I don't even know why we have it," he said.

Isaac nodded and took it.

"Thank you," he said.

The next hour or two involved Isaac and Carver obtaining the armor and buying clothes and a large leather bag for Isaac. Carver offered to give him a horse, but Isaac insisted it wasn't necessary.

Finally, they came back to Carver's house, and Isaac fitted on his new clothes while Carver washed his old ones. After that, Isaac packed everything together. At last he was ready.

He stood outside the small house with his bag over his shoulder.

Kiri and Carver exited the home, Carver with a defeated look on his face, and Kiri looking very happy. She also had a bag over her shoulder, and was holding her staff. They approached Isaac.

"I talked Grandpa into letting me come with you as a guide!" exclaimed Kiri.

"Only if you want to," said Carver.

Isaac scratched the back of his head.

"Um…"

"Think! You can't just search all over; not all of the shrines are on land! I know where those are!" said Kiri.

Isaac blinked.

"They are?" he asked. Kiri nodded.

Isaac sighed.

"Alright then." he said, defeated.

Kiri cried for joy and jumped up and down. Isaac thanked Carver for his hospitality, and Kiri gave Carver a hug.

And then they were off.

IOE: Whew! That was long!

Feizhi: Well, it should have been...BUT WHERE IS MY SQUISHY!

IOE: Maybe I should send Flotsam back, for all of our safeties. That gives me an idea! OKAY! When you review this chapter, you have four choices: one, you propose a different buddy (you can choose what it is) instead of Flotsam, two, you say we just keep him, three, you propose to keep Flotsam but add on a new buddy (you can choose what it is), or four, you don't participate in this and just review the chapter. Well, I hope you liked it! Boy, I really need to have Isaac seem more masculine…and Kiri's getting on my nerves…I should kill her…when no one's reading…. Oh, and the Wise One's stuff? Yeah, well, I can't tell you, cuz it's part of the plot, but I'm sure it's kind of obvious why he can't tell Isaac why he's special, and why the total reason for Isaac ending up in Erutun isn't just because of the mixing of Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto, and Uranus energy. R&R!

Feizhi: (wails) SQUISHY!


	4. Chapter 4

Chap de Four

And so they begin!

IOE: Hey, guys. Once again, I was on vacation, this time to New England for four days. Okay, I've decided I'll tell you guys when I'm going on vacation from now on, so these un-fulfilled updates aren't mysteries. Okay, two or three weeks from now, I'm going to be in Seattle for a week. And then, for Labor Day weekend, I'll be in California for three or four days. And that's it. 'Kay? Oh, and now I'm going to try to reply to reviewers so they feel special.

Blackarrow92: Sorry, man. Ze ash shipping may occur in a fanfic I write after The Other World. Ivan, huh? I don't like Ivan. Everyone uses him, and he's not my best GS char. He'll be a buddy for a chapter or two.

Fehize: Yay! I feel all foozy inside! Hrmmm…Meg and Justin? They're sane! I can't have non-crazy people here! Hsu, however…yeeees, we shall have him… (Insert evil laugh here).

Feizhi: Kiri…. I want her, too! She shall be co-squishy! WHERE IS SHE!

IOE: In the chapter where she belongs.

Feizhi: RRRRRAHHH! (Tackles IOE)

IOE/Flotsam: Arrrrgh! (IOE uses flamey staff to get Feizhi off)

IOE: Aaaah! Somebody help!

Feizhi: You're the Fire Mage of NDA and you can't even fight off me? What a weakling.

(Flotsam runs for cover)

(Ivan/Hsu appear)

Hsu: What're you doing this time?

Feizhi: SHUT UP!

Ivan: Well, everyone seems to be busy. I'll do the disclaimer. Discl- (Feizhi attacks him, screaming 'Super squishy')

Flotsam: (sneaks out) Disclaimer: Ignira of Esperon does not own Golden Sun. Nor does she own Finding Nemo. Please enjoy this chapter!

Isaac and Kiri had been walking towards the hill where he was found, and then he realized he had no idea where he was going. He looked at Kiri.

"Which shrine is closest?" he asked. She put her hands on her hips.

"I was wondering why we were going this way. There are only hills and mountains for the next four miles!" she said. Isaac continued to look at her.

"Oh! Um, the closest one should be the Uranus shrine! It's to the East," she said. Isaac nodded, and they turned their backs to the sun, which was beginning to set, and started walking.

After half an hour, Isaac stopped to drink from the canteen Carver had leant him. The water trickled down his dry throat. Kiri didn't drink.

"I'm too used to going long without water," she explained haughtily.

Fifteen minutes later, she stopped to drink. Isaac rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking.

They reached a mountain. It was a little taller than Mount Aleph had been, Isaac had reflected. Kiri told him that they had to travel up this mountain a little ways until it became a plateau, and then they would go across the plateau.

"And my feet are tired. Can't we just-" Kiri's complaining was interrupted by a growl. And then a gray blur leaped on her. She screamed.

Isaac reacted almost instantly. He unsheathed his sword and jabbed it into the animal's (Isaac assumed it was a wolf) back. It howled and rolled off the girl.

Isaac's stomach felt ill. This was no wolf. It had the head of an old man surrounded by gray fur. The old man's head, however, was upside down. The mouth frothed, and the eyes were a sharp green with cat pupils. The eyes had the creature's drool on them, but probably had a film over them so that the drool did not hinder their eyes.

Isaac stepped back in surprise of the repulsive appearance.

Kiri, however, had stood up. She raised her staff and her other arm, and muttered something Isaac could not hear. Winds came from up high and slammed themselves into the beast, which flew backward, barking.

Isaac saw that the dog-like creature's body grazed a large, sharp boulder protruding from the ground. It fell, and howled. Blood poured from its back and ribs. Isaac hesitantly approached, wondering if the monster would attack.

The wound to its chest was serious. Isaac knew it was dying slowly and painfully. He turned around. Kiri was behind him. She was very quiet.

Isaac raised his arms, and muttered 'Ragnarok.' A blue, swirling energy aura surrounded him. There was a flash of light, and then a giant sword made of red light put the creature out of its misery.

He turned to the mountain and started walking. He made ten steps and then realizing Kiri wasn't following. He turned around. She was staring at the wolf beast.

"Kiri?" he called.

She looked up and ran to Isaac. Her eyes glistened, as though she were about to cry.

"Th-that was an Orler. They live in the mountains, so watch out," she said.

Isaac nodded, and continued walking. Kiri was silent for a while. He sighed.

"Kiri, it was him or us," he said.

"It's not that…" she said, her voice cracking. Isaac walked a few more steps, and then closed his eyes. He sighed again and turned around.

"Kiri, what's wrong?" he asked. Kiri sniffed, tried to say something, and then started to cry. Isaac rushed over, and bent over to see. She covered her face with her hands.

After a minute that lasted an eternity, she sniffed again and cleared her eyes of tears.

"Kiri, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I watched my father die like that, except no one finished his suffering early," she said very quietly.

Isaac didn't want to say anything, so he was silent, took her arm, and pulled her along.

There was silence between them for a while. Isaac began to hear cicadas as they climbed higher and higher. Finally, there was a path. He reached it first, and helped Kiri up.

"How did you manage to get a caravan up this mountain?" he asked, breaking the silence. The quiet made him a little uncomfortable.

"There was a pathway, but a landslide knocked it out a few years ago. We never went this way after that." she explained, shrugging. She walked ahead of him, and then stopped as they heard to growls.

"Did I just hear an Orler?" she asked. Isaac turned around to see two Orlers on the path, snarling and drooling.

"No, you heard two." he said, and unsheathed his sword. He felt a surge of power, and the sword let out a howl.

He lifted his sword with both hands. A golden light burst from the tip of the sword, and then separated into two beams of light. They flew into the Orlers' heads. They were immediately stunned. He turned to Kiri, who was already surrounded by her swirling purple aura, both arms lifted high. Winds gathered, and flew into the Orlers. They were blown off the side of the mountain.

"We'll be on the plateau by the time they're back up here anyway." she said, shrugging.

Isaac and she continued walking, and the path led them to a cliff. About six feet across and three feet below from the cliff was a long, flat, broad plateau that must have stretched for about three leagues.

"This is where it gets tricky," she said, frowning.

"No kidding." said Isaac.

"There _was_ a bridge here," she said.

He and Kiri thought for a moment. Isaac finally had an idea.

"Kiri," he said, "I'm going to give you some beads, and I need you to wear them," he said.

"What, am I going to woo some passing bird into carrying us over?" she asked, rolling her eyes. Isaac frowned.

"…And then I need to see if you can use the power they give you, saying 'Catch,' as you do, to carry that little rock over on that plateau," he pointed at the little rock, "Over here. Using Psynergy."

Kiri raised an eyebrow skeptically, but did as she was told as Isaac took the beads off of his head and gave them to her. She put them on, and looked at them in disgust.

"Ugly thing. Where'd you get this?" she asked.

"My mother made it." Isaac replied, clearing his throat. Kiri opened her mouth in horror at what she'd just said.

"When I said 'ugly,' I meant-"

"Just get the rock."

Kiri turned to the plateau, and said, "Catch."

She stretched her hands out, and grabbed air. The little rock slowly made its way up, and then to Kiri, carried by a ghostly hand.

"Wow," she said, staring at the piece of sandstone in her hand.

"Yeah. Okay, cast Float on yourself, and I'll give you a push, so you'll end up at the plateau. Once you're there, cast Float on me, and then Catch on me, so I'll end up over there, too." he said.

"What if it doesn't work?" she asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"We can wait for the Orlers to come back. I'm sure they'd have a better plan." Isaac replied.

Kiri muttered "Float." The ghostly hand appeared and picked her up. Isaac seized her sides and gave a hearty push. The small Uranus Proficien's body wooshed across to the plateau. She gasped, Isaac assumed from the sudden feeling of flying through the air. It kept going, however, and her body began to go higher.

Before Isaac could call out to the girl to warn her to brace herself, the Psynergy ended, and the hand safely set her down. She ran over to the edge of the plateau, and pointed her staff at Isaac.

"Lift," she said, and Isaac felt his body being lifted into the air. And then, "Catch," and his body went safely over the cliff and the hand suddenly dropped him. He landed on his backside, and grunted in pain. Kiri laughed.

"Shut up," he said irritably, and he stood.

"Here're the beads," Kiri said, handing them to Isaac, who put them back on.

"That was so much fun!" she said. Isaac smiled.

"So, how far away is the Uranus Shrine?" he asked. Kiri shrugged one shoulder.

"Seven leagues across, one half of a league up." she said. Isaac sighed. That was a long way.

"So it's on a mountain half a league high?" he asked. Kiri shook her head.

"No, but we need a mountain to get there." she said mysteriously.

"What?" asked Isaac, puzzled. Kiri raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"Anyway, welcome to Ilzero's Plateau! This is the second largest mountain in Erutun!" she said, spreading her arms wide, gesturing to the plateau.

Isaac inwardly hoped he wouldn't have to travel on Erutun's largest plateau.

And so they started walking. Though the sun was beginning to set, it was still rather hot. Isaac was sweating. Kiri noticed his discomfort, and pointed to a group of rocks not too far away.

"There's a cave in the ground behind those rocks. It leads to a large system of caves we would use on hot days a few times." she said.

"You took a trading caravan through underground caves?" asked Isaac, bewildered. Kiri shrugged. She pointed to the west.

"Do you see that? It's the Naidnara Ocean. It's right beside the plateau. Some of its cool water is in the caves, so we'll be nice and cool." she explained.

"But, Kiri, how will we see?" asked Isaac.

"I brought a torch and a tinderbox," said Kiri.

"Alright, then." said Isaac.

Kiri took off her backpack and pulled out a small box and an unlit torch. She pulled out a piece of metal and flint from the tinderbox and struck the metal with the flint until fire was made. She then proceeded to light the torch. When she was done, she put the tinderbox back into her backpack and put it back on her shoulders.

They proceeded to the rocks Kiri had pointed to, and then reached the cave. It was a huge, black hole sitting in the ground. Kiri just started to walk in it. There was a small, small hill, and then the ground was flat. Isaac walked on the underground path in wonder. The ground looked damp, and there were puddles here and there.

"Okay, the first chamber's coming up," said Kiri, pointing to a cave shortly ahead.

She and Isaac continued walking, and then they reached the chamber. It was much larger than the space that he and Kiri had been walking through. Stalagmites now hung from the ceiling, and stalactites poked up from the ground.

"Ooh, here comes a large puddle," said Kiri.

And sure enough, shortly after she had said so, Isaac felt a chilling sensation in his feet. He looked down. Cold water almost reached the tops of his boots. He frowned.

_Great._ He thought.

Suddenly, there was the chilling sound of footsteps. Isaac and Kiri froze. Isaac saw a man appear at the other end of a chamber. He couldn't make out much else.

"Hey, who're you? This is private property!" he yelled. His voice echoed in the cavern.

"What!" yelled Isaac and Kiri at the same time.

"You heard me! Get lost!" said the man.

"No way! I've been here before! This isn't anybody's cave!" declared Kiri.

"Oh, yeah? Well, the great descendant of Ilzero himself has recently returned to claim his birthright!" replied the man.

"Just please let us pass through. We mean the owner of this cave no harm," said Isaac.

"You're not getting past me," said the man.

"Oh yeah?" challenged Kiri. She lifted her arms.

"Jet stream!" she yelled, and her voice echoed all over the chamber. For a moment, nothing happened. And then, winds came from behind them (Isaac assumed they were from the entrance to the cave) and gathered around Kiri, then thrust themselves into the man. He cried out as he was thrown backward.

He was out of sight for a few minutes, and then he came charging back. Isaac could now see that he had a shaved head with green eyebrows. A sword was strapped to his back.

"You damned Uranus Proficiens! May Poseidon use his awesome powers to bring you bastards to the ocean's depths!" he screamed, spit flying from his mouth.

"Oh yeah? You guys are afraid of heights! That's why you're stuck in this dumb cave!" Kiri shouted back.

"Enough, brat! Erosion!" cried the man, and suddenly, a huge wave appeared before Isaac and Kiri. Isaac stepped back. Kiri went scrambling away. The wave crashed down. The tremendous force knocked Isaac down. Water was pushing his body down, forcing him to the floor, preventing him from breathing. The salt burned his eyes. And then it was gone.

Isaac gasped for air, and nearly coughed a lung out. Kiri came running back.

"Isaac, are you okay?" she asked. Isaac stood. Now he was mad at this man.

He stretched his arms wide.

"Kiri, get back to where you were." he said. Kiri obeyed.

"Grand Gaia!" hollered Isaac.

A gaping hole opened in the earth between the man and Isaac. Golden light poured from the hole, and large boulders slammed themselves into the man. The earth shook.

And then it was over. The man fell over. He fainted. Kiri came back.

"That was awesome, Isaac! I didn't know you could do that!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"Yeah, I've been around. But that's a long story. Let's just keep going," he said.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Kiri, and she followed him as he began to walk.

"So, are Neptune and Uranus Proficiens enemies?" asked Isaac as they exited the chamber.

"Yeah. I guess it's because we're polar opposites, but whatever. They act way too high and mighty," she said.

After a while, they reached a fork in the tunnel.

"We go left," said Kiri. And so, they took the tunnel to the left.

Kiri gasped at an object she found in the tunnel.

"Isaac, look! A chest!" she exclaimed, and the hand holding her staff pointed. He and Kiri approached it. Kiri knelt down and set down her staff, using her now-free arm to open the lid. She screamed as two eyes poked out the top, and legs and claws sprouted from the sides of the chest.

"It's a Mimic!" said Isaac in surprise. So Mimics were in Erutun, too.

"Ah! The sky's too far away for me to use my powers!" said Kiri as the Mimic scuttled towards her.

Isaac ran over and started to thrust his sword into the lid of the false chest, but one of its claws caught the sword and held on tight. The other claw tried to strike him, but Isaac kicked it away and tried to pull the sword away. The Mimic wasn't letting go any time soon. Isaac let go of the sword, stepped back, and called:

"Stone spire!"

Several large stalagmites appeared and crashed on the Mimic. It dropped the sword, and Isaac dove for it. He lifted it and thrust it into the Mimic. There was a horrible squealing noise from the Mimic, and then it stopped moving. Isaac removed his sword.

"Wow," said Kiri, "What kind of Proficien are you again?" she asked.

"Venus. I gain my power from the earth," explained Isaac.

"Oh," said Kiri, and then there were footsteps again. Two young men with green hair appeared.

"Hey!" they exclaimed together.

Isaac wasted no time charging forward with his sword. It gave out a howl, and it used its special attack. The man on the left was stunned. The other, however, held his own.

He pulled a knife from his belt and threw it. Isaac wasn't expecting this. He ducked, and just in time. The knife managed to cut off a bit of hair, but it was hardly noticeable.

"Isaac, why are you using your sword? Use some ma-err, Psyn-whatever!" shouted Kiri, irritated that she couldn't do anything.

Isaac ignored her, and charged forward with his sword.

The man extended his arm.

"Spout." he said.

A large force of concentrated seawater burst from his hand and hit Isaac square in the chest. He flew back, and landed on his rear.

"Ow!" he muttered, and then stood up.

The man was now advancing on Kiri, raising one of his throwing knives. Kiri was backing away, frightened.

Isaac quickly got up.

"Quake!"

And the earth began to shake. This knocked the man over, giving Kiri a chance to escape, and Isaac a chance to run over and give the man a swift blow to the head with the hilt of his sword. The man tried to stab Isaac as he tried to get up, but Isaac was too quick for him. There was a strange sound as metal met scalp, and the man was out.

"Come on, Kiri." he said, and she joined him as they continued walking.

"I don't get why somebody would want to own this place, even if he _is_ Ilzero's descendant," said Kiri.

"Me, neither," replied Isaac, and he took a swig from his canteen.

"You know, these caves remind me of a story I heard when I was little," said Kiri as they followed the tunnel when it turned right. This led to a large chamber. The floor of it was covered in seawater that almost reached Isaac's knees. The water was freezing. He wondered if there was more water further along in the caves; his feet could go numb. There was a small hole in the ceiling of the chamber, through which sunlight came, along with the smell of sea air.

"Thank Uranus…." said Kiri, "A hole in the cave means I can access the sky." She lifted her staff above the water.

"Yeah, I'm beginning to get tired of doing all the work," laughed Isaac.

"And I'm getting tired of waiting for you to get off your butt and save me. After all, I'm your guide," she said.

They left the chamber, and Isaac's pants were soaked below the knee. Kiri showed little signs of discomfort; she probably liked getting wet like most children.

The tunnel led them left, and it was very long. No one came after them, however.

And then he saw something up ahead after a while. He pointed.

"What's that?"

"Ivan? _Ivan_,"

Ivan looked up.

"What? Oh. Sorry, sister," he apologized.

Master Hamma was dressed and packed, as was he. They were at Felix's home, being served breakfast by Felix and Jenna's mother. Felix and Jenna had explained the situation to their parents, who reluctantly agreed to let them go find Isaac. Jenna's mother insisted on making breakfast for them all.

"What're you thinking about, Ivan?" asked Jenna, leaning over to inspect her friend.

"I was just wondering…why was the cult after Isaac in particular? No offense to him, but we're all just about as strong as he, and they claimed he was overflowing with power. It's not like he's invincible," said Ivan.

Garet grunted something, trying to speak while stuffing his face with food. His friends all waited impatiently, and partly with disgust of his eating habits, for him to comment on what Ivan had said.

Ivan sighed. It had been like this since he'd met Garet. He remembered the time when they all sat at the table at Vault's Inn. Isaac was talking to Ivan about…he couldn't remember now, taking bites of his chicken, which he had sliced, now and then, and Ivan barely ate. Meanwhile, farther down the table, Garet was making very loud, pig-like noises as he wolfed down dinner. It had been good times indeed.

Garet managed to swallow the sausage, toast, and scrambled eggs that had been in his mouth without choking, a skill Ivan marveled.

"Maybe they can only sense the power of Venus," he said.

"I'm not so sure. If they could track Isaac's power aura from the inn, he should have been able to track mine. We are of equal strength," said Felix.

"Maybe-" Garet began, but Jenna cut in.

"I'm sure we can come up with a lot of 'maybes.' How about we focus on trying to find those creeps?" she asked.

The others voiced their agreement.

"Is everyone finished?" asked Jenna. And then she and Felix looked over at the end of the table.

"Garet, are you finished?" they inquired together.

Garet shook his head, unable to speak as he had filled his mouth with muffins. The siblings sighed simultaneously.

"We should get the others," Ivan offered, "I'm sure they would want to help,"

"I'm not so sure," said Felix, "it would be a long way to get them. As I understand it, Sheba is in Lalivero with Faran, Piers is back in Lemuria, and Mia is in Imil. This could divert us from our objective; to find the cult,"

"That is a good point, but I have the Teleport Lapis. We could all just teleport over to those places and get them. They would also be very valuable; these priests are very strong, and we could use some healing without paying for so many herbs and potions, not to mention battle aid," said Ivan, and the others nodded.

"That is very wise, Ivan. Perhaps when we are all finished with breakfast, we could get started on that," said Hamma.

As if on cue, Garet piped up:

"I'm finished."

And everyone got up, and thanked Felix's mother for the wonderful breakfast. Felix told Ivan, Garet, and Ivan's sister that he and Jenna would be a moment, and asked that they wait outside. Ivan understood. He wanted to say goodbye to his parents.

He opened the door for his sister and Garet, and then exited himself.

"Garet, perhaps you should go and bid your family farewell," suggested Hamma.

"I already did. Aaron tried to use Psynergy on me. He should be coming out of that stun I put him in by now," he replied.

Ivan chuckled and nodded.

"We already told Hammet what we were doing. He gave us some armor and weapons," he said, smiling, and gestured to his pack.

"No way! Gimme some, you hog!" exclaimed Garet.

"I'm sorry, Garet, but they were only meant for us," said Master Hamma apologetically.

Garet sighed forlornly.

"I see," he said.

Ivan noticed that there seemed to be something wrong with his friend. He read his mind as he reached into his bags and pulled out the Teleport Lapis. He gasped.

_Garet, you like Jenna? And you're worried that she doesn't return your feelings, but instead has them for Isaac?_ He said into his head.

This was a problem, Ivan knew. He had heard Hamma's conversation the night before with Jenna, who did indeed pine for Isaac. Ivan inferred that it was a damn good thing that Garet had not heard what Jenna had said (A/N: Ivan, nor Hamma, nor Garet saw this kiss, FYI).

Garet looked furious and his face flushed. He turned to Ivan.

"Get the hell out of my head! Don't talk to me!" he said fiercely.

Ivan frowned. He was only concerned for his friend.

_Ivan, you made a promise long ago not to invade Garet's mind, shortly after you all met. Your intention was noble, but you still should have simply asked._ Hamma explained in his head. Ivan nodded.

Garet sighed.

"Yeah…but she hardly notices me now, but she'll always see Isaac," he said quietly.

"Perhaps you should confront her about your feelings," said Hamma wisely.

"Isaac said something like that, too, but I'm pretty sure she'd set me on fire again," he mumbled.

"Again?" asked Hamma and Ivan at the same time.

"One time when we were younger, I accidentally dropped her new cloak in the river…." he explained.

And then everyone jumped as the door opened. Felix stepped out, and then Jenna.

"Are we ready?" he asked. Everyone nodded.

"Teleport," he said, and there was a swirl of color around them. The colors dispersed, and everyone immediately shivered. Despite the fact that it was summer, Imil was still cold.

Ivan looked around. He had never seen Imil in the summer. The ground was still slightly covered with snow and ice, but a lot of it was melted, and there were puddles. And now that there were puddles, there were mosquitoes. And now that there were mosquitoes, there were birds. They quickly made their way to the local sanctum.

Inside, Meg and Justin, older than Ivan had remembered, sat dutifully at the altar. Justin was looking over a scroll with Meg, and then she looked up.

"Ivan! Garet! Jenna! Felix!" she exclaimed, and stood up. Justin looked up.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted them with a grin.

Jenna walked over.

"It's been a while, hasn't it? This is Master Hamma, Ivan's sister," she said, stepping aside and pointing to Hamma, who smiled and bowed.

Meg's mouth flew open.

"'Sister!' Oh, wow! I didn't know you had a sister, Ivan! It's such a pleasure, ma'am!" she exclaimed, curtsying to Hamma. Ivan smiled. Meg was overflowing with energy, unlike before when she was more like shy, even timid at times.

"Whoa, Ivan's got a sister?" asked Justin, and he stood up to get a look at Master Hamma, who nodded. Ivan grinned. Meg and Justin were really friendly.

"Pleasure, ma'am," said Justin, bowing.

"We go back a long way, don't we, guys?" asked Garet with a half smile. Meg and Justin smiled, and nodded.

"So are you guys visiting?" asked Meg, grinning.

Jenna shook her head.

"No, I'm afraid we're here to see Mia about something. Is she around?" she inquired.

Meg's face fell.

"What's wrong?" she asked, and then she saw that Isaac wasn't there, even though the other Adepts from Vale were.

"Something's happened to Isaac," she said, her eyes wide. She turned to Justin.

"What? What happened?" he asked.

"Justin, get Mia. Now. She's visiting the elderly on a routine checkup," she ordered sternly.

Justin didn't argue. He got up and rushed out the door. A few seconds later he rushed in, his hand gripping a confused Mia's arm, and she was dragged in.

She blinked and looked around.

"Jenna? Garet? Ivan? Felix? _Hamma?_" she asked. The Adepts all smiled and nodded.

"What's this about? Justin told me something's happened to Isaac," she said, now looking concerned.

The five Adepts all told her what had happened. When they finished, Ivan expected Mia to look upset, but she looked more angry than upset.

"How dare they do that? Why? Where are they now?" she demanded.

"We don't know. We're going to find them, Mia, and we're going to find out," Felix assured her.

"Alright, I'll start packing now. Meet me at Imil gates. Meg, Justin, I hope to be back soon, please take good care of everyone while I'm gone," Mia said, and then she stormed out of the sanctum.

When she was gone, Meg looked at Justin.

"_Whoa,"_ she said.

"You're tellin' me!" he said.

"Hey, while she's packing, let's go to the inn for food. I'm hungry," said Garet. Jenna turned from Meg and Justin to him.

"Garet, you just ate a huge breakfast!" she fumed.

Felix muttered to Ivan:

"We're getting a lot of angry girls today, eh, Ivan?"

Ivan chuckled and nodded.

"I-I was just kidding, Jenna!" Garet said, holding up his arms in surrender.

"Better have been," she muttered.

"I think we should head for the gate," voiced Hamma. The Adepts nodded.

And they were off.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IOE: Phew! That took forever, and this room has no air conditioning!

Ivan: (pinches nose) Get some deodorant!

Feizhi: Squishyyyy!

Flotsam: Aaaaaaah!

Hsu: (sweat drop) Anyway, Ignira hopes you enjoyed the chapter. Please Read and Review.


	5. Chapter 5

Ze Fifth Chapteer

Lemuria, Lallivero, and Ethan

IOE: Hello! Been a while. Um, this didn't update on schedule because of my Seattle trip. Anyway, we encounter our first "boss", so to speak, in this chapter, and I'm very excited about it because I love to write for perverts.

Ivan: (eyetwitch) Perverts? Bosses? Is Feizhi in this chapter?

Feizhi: Drop dead or you'll be zapped.

Hsu: No zapping.

Feizhi: Shut up. Where's Flotsam?

IOE: Somewhere safe. Now, please enjoy this chapter, and thank you for reviewing my story, Fehize (gives cookies). Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun. Please enjoy, cause this is my baby.

After a few minutes of waiting, Mia joined her friends at the gate. She was so frustrated that someone would try to kill Isaac. In fact, Mia couldn't remember the last time she'd been frustrated at something, having always been patient and kind.

_But why would they do this?_ she thought, searching for some sort of reason for them specifically targeting Isaac, instead of Isaac and Felix, or all of the Adepts involved in saving Weyard.

"Uh…Mia, are you planning on coming?" asked Garet. Mia's mind came back to the world, and saw that her companions were all standing together. Ivan was holding the Teleport Lapis.

Her cheeks flushed.

"I'm terribly sorry!" she exclaimed, and rushed over to them.

Ivan muttered 'Teleport,' and they were swallowed by the swirling colors. The colors quickly disappeared, and Mia suddenly felt an odd sensation in her legs. She looked down. Everyone was standing in the magical fountain in Lemuria Plaza!

"Ivan!" Jenna and Garet said together angrily.

"I'm sorry," the Jupiter Adept said, "I meant to land us _in front_ of the fountain."

"Well, this is quite an interesting way to enter Lemuria, I must say that," said Master Hamma, walking to the edge of the fountain. Mia chuckled and followed her.

They were out of the fountain. Mia, Jenna, and Hamma wrung their robes and skirts out, while Felix and Garet stared at Ivan as though he had just stolen something. Suddenly, Mia heard a chorus of hearty laughter.

Jenna glowered.

"I hope that jackass falls off a cliff," she said.

A familiar man with blue hair was headed towards them, still laughing.

"Shut up!" roared Jenna.

Piers managed to stop laughing.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but nothing amusing has occurred for days, and that _was_ funny to see."

"We understand," said Hamma, smiling serenely.

"Yes, so, what brings you to Lemuria? Visiting?" asked Piers, half smiling. Mia noticed a gold badge pinned to his chest. She also noticed that he was dressed in fine clothing, but kept the bandana around his head.

"We can explain later," said Mia gently, "but what's that, Piers?" She pointed to the badge.

Piers grinned.

"When I returned to Lemuria, its glory was already beginning to restore itself. Look around, can you see?" he asked.

The Adepts looked around, and sure enough, Mia noticed that the people looked lively again. A man, for example, was walking east, with a book in his arms and a hum in his throat. Mia also noticed that the buildings seemed less old and crumbly, but now saw that they seemed newer, and almost shone in the sunlight. The dusty gray they had once been was more like silver now.

"Yes, and then what?" asked Jenna, now interested.

"Well, King Hydros summoned me immediately and I told him about all of the things we'd seen and done after leaving Lemuria, and he was very interested. So, to reward me for my efforts, he made me Town Hero, _and_ his personal advisor. He said that if I ever saw you all again, he had a special reward for you as well," he said.

"Wow. That's really great, Piers," said Garet, grinning. Jenna and Mia nodded, smiling.

"Do you want to see him now?" asked Piers. The Adepts looked at each other, shrugging.

"Great! Let's go!" he said eagerly, leading them to the palace.

Once the Adepts saw the palace, they all gasped at once. The palace was no longer gray at all. In fact, it was a strong blue, with golden statues everywhere of all sorts of creatures; Mermaids, humans, gulls, fish, and other creatures. Each statue was spewing water into its own private pond, filled with gold fish.

"How-" Felix started to say, but Piers answered the question he knew Felix was going to ask.

"Master artisans and Adepts worked night and day on this. It is absolutely beautiful, isn't it?" he asked.

"I'm moving here. Now." Jenna said. Piers chuckled, and led them inside. The guards smiled and nodded to them as they passed.

Finally, they reached the throne room. The guard let them pass when Piers explained that the King had ordered him to bring the "Saviors" (Piers explained that Lemurians had taken to calling his friends by that) to him as soon as they entered Lemuria.

Kind Hydros was staring at the staircase, deep in thought, when Piers cleared his throat a bit. Hydros turned around, and his face brightened upon seeing the Adepts.

"Piers! Jenna, Felix, Mia, Ivan, Garet, and…" his face fell.

"Master Hamma, sir," said Hamma, curtsying. The King nodded, and bowed himself.

"They just arrived," explained Piers. Hydros nodded.

"I'm terribly sorry for the water that's followed us. I made a mistake when I teleported us here," said Ivan apologetically.

King Hydros smiled.

"It is fine. But now, I wish to reward you for not only saving my city, but for saving all of Weyard." he said, and clapped his hands three times.

Several servants came out of doors from upstairs, eight of them, carrying chests, which they set down in the middle of the room. The 'thud'-ing sound the chests made echoed throughout the large room.

Hydros raised his eyebrows.

"Wait…there are eight chests, yet only seven of you." said he, surveying the Adepts.

Piers turned to his friends.

"Yes, where are Sheba and Is-" and then it dawned on him.

"Something bad has happened," he said. The Adepts nodded anxiously.

Felix sighed, and took the time to explain what had happened. When he finished, Hydros and Piers looked very solemn.

"That is terrible. I will leave Lemuria to assist you immediately," said Piers, who then turned to King Hydros, "King Hydros, I plead for your permission to leave Lemuria. I think that it would be best to enjoy your generous gifts during less…woeful circumstances."

"He's so super serious now. I think I'm going to get a headache from all those big words," Jenna whispered to Garet, and they both held back laughter. Mia smiled nervously.

Hydros nodded.

"Of course. My servants shall take care of your belongings straight away. Please make yourselves comfortable, meanwhile," he said, and turned to the servants, who nodded, and carried away the chests.

Moments later, they returned with chairs, and set them down in the room. The Adepts sat in them, with Hydros' encouragement. Hydros then apologized, as he had to attend to matters elsewhere in the palace.

"So…" Garet said nervously, twiddling his thumbs.

"Do you live in the palace now, Piers?" asked Master Hamma.

Piers nodded, smiling.

"King Hydros is very kind, and he's taken quite a liking to me. I…I think…" he said, swallowing. Something was upsetting him.

"What's wrong?" asked Ivan.

"I think he's going to adopt me," he said quietly.

"That's wonderful!" said Mia. She knew that Piers' mother's heart had given out while he was away, making him an orphan.

"But, Piers, you're a grown man." said Garet bluntly. Felix, Ivan, Master Hamma, and Mia smiled nervously. Jenna pulled Garet close.

"You idiot, stop being an insensitive ass!" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"What?" he asked slowly. Jenna smacked her face and let go of Garet.

Piers cleared his throat.

"Well, in Lemurian culture, I'm not…technically a man yet…." he said.

"Oh, so you're not _too_ old then, eh?" Jenna asked, with a smirk. Felix coughed.

"Um…it's not entirely _age_…."

"Then what-"

"Isn't it a beautiful day?" Ivan asked quickly, changing the subject.

"Absolutely beautiful." said Piers, gazing out the windows with admiration.

"Piers," said Felix, glancing at the servants working to organize the bags they;d brought down, "Is all of this necessary?"

He nodded.

"If we're going to use my ship, yes. A lot of those things are maps and such. New islands have sprung up out of the ocean since the Golden Sun rose. We also think that some of the continents have already expanded." he said.

"Incredible," said Mia, blinking in amazement, thinking about new islands like Apojii being closer to her home.

Felix sighed.

"Well, alright," he said. Piers smiled.

A servant timidly bowed before them.

"Everything is ready, sir. We are about to carry them to the ship." she said.

"Please, allow me, and don't bother with cleaning the ship or anything. Your services here are no longer necessary." Piers said kindly. The servant bowed, and rushed off with the others elsewhere.

Piers rose, and walked over to the luggage, taking three bags in his arms.

"Let me get that, Piers," said Hamma, rising and heading to the bag. Piers nodded thanks, and headed out the door. Mia, Hamma, and the rest followed.

As they walked through the streets of Lemuria, people stopped to wave or bow to them, and Mia noticed that once they passed, people whispered excitedly to each other.

Suddenly, Piers stopped.

"He's coming," he said quietly.

"What? Who?" asked Jenna.

Suddenly, Jenna's question was answered with a cry from not to far away.

"Piers! Piers! Piers, Piers, Piers!"

Mia turned to see a boy somewhere in early adolescence zooming from atop a hill down to them, dust and disgruntled people in his wake.

The boy stopped right before Piers. Mia could now see that the boy had short, thick blue hair with silver streaks, and a scar on his cheek. The boy had a defiant look on his face.

Piers sighed.

"Nathaniel, I am in a hurry," he said.

"I can see that. Piers, let me come with you!" the boy, Nathaniel demanded.

"Absolutely not. Leave." Piers said sternly. His golden eyes flashed a bit.

"No. I'm not a kid; I can do what I want." Nathaniel said, returning Piers' stern glare.

"You are a child. Please step aside," said Piers, taking a step forward. Nathaniel sighed, and stepped aside, and the company continued forward.

"At least tell me what you're doing!" Nathaniel called after them.

"I won't be able to make you stay at home if I do." Piers called back, continuing down a flight of steps.

"Oh, let him go, Piers. The more Mercury Adepts the better." said Jenna, shrugging.

"He's a child of fifteen and-"

"Fifteen? Ivan and Sheba were _sixteen_ when they joined us, right, Ivan?" asked Garet, looking at the Jupiter Adept.

Ivan did not answer. Instead, he scowled.

"Garet, Jenna, I think Piers knows what he's doing. Just leave it," he said.

They made it to the ship, and climbed aboard. The ship seemed a little less grand than it had been before. Mia guessed that it was just because it hadn't been used for a while.

They climbed aboard, and Piers opened one of his bags, pulling out a very familiar black orb.

Red energy erupted from it, and the ship seemed more alive. The wood on the door to the cabin shifted a little bit, which Mia found to be eerie. Piers put the orb near the head of the ship, and then walked inside the cabin, setting down his bags.

"I'll be navigating," he said, emerging from the cabin.

"I'll be look-out." Jenna said suddenly.

"Alright, then. Let's head to Lallivero, Piers!" called Felix.

Piers took his position, turned the ship, and they were off.

Meanwhile, Isaac and Kiri were carefully making their way towards the thing Isaac saw.

Kiri stopped, and squinted.

"It's a wooden door," she said.

"What? A wooden door?" asked Isaac, squinting as well.

It was true. Sure enough, there was a wooden door. There was a sign on it, but Isaac couldn't understand the writing.

"Kiri, what does the sign on it say?" he asked.

Kiri squinted harder. It almost looked as though her eyes were closed.

"'Ethan of Illzero's Fabulous Love Shack.' Isaac, what's a Love Shack?" she asked innocently.

"Um, Kiri, maybe we should take a different tunnel. This one seems…dangerous…." said Isaac.

"What? Alright, but can you hold the torch? My arm's getting tired." she said.

And then there was a growl. Isaac and Kiri whipped around to see a large shape in the dark, too far away from the torch's light to be seen.

"Um…Isaac…what is that?" asked Kiri. There was another growl, and the shape leaped. Kiri screamed, and ran for the door.

Isaac flipped around.

"Kiri!" he ran after her.

Kiri dashed to the door and shoved it open, dashing inside. Isaac was right behind her, and slammed the door shut.

Isaac looked around.

The room was dim, lit only with candles giving off a strange scent. The room was also small, and on the wall opposite of the one Isaac and Kiri were in front of, there was an enormous canopy bed, filled with pillows and lovely sheets.

"Kiri, get out of the way of the door. That _thing_ is going to break through this door at any moment," ordered Isaac, and Kiri silently obeyed.

Isaac pulled out his sword, and moved four feet away from the door, ready to attack. He heard the giant beast charging. It was getting closer and closer…and then…

There was a loud whimper, and the sound of enormous feet walking away. Isaac sighed with relief, and then looked at Kiri. A bit of her clothing poked out from under a long, magenta tablecloth covering a small table.

"Kiri-"

A door Isaac hadn't noticed opened. A man, taller and possibly older than Isaac, dressed in a white robe, had entered.

He had shoulder-length, deep blue hair (which was wet) and indigo eyes. The man blinked when he saw Isaac. He smiled.

"Ah, my dear, have you ventured here? Probably brought here by my men living in these caves. Please believe they will be reprimanded for their behavior. But, please, you are tired. Feel free to rest of my comfortable, warm bed," he said, gesturing to it.

Isaac made a face of discomfort.

"I take it you're the descendant of Illzero. Is there a way out of here?" he asked.

Ethan made a look of horror, realizing that Isaac was, in fact, not a woman.

"Filthy queer! Leave this place at once! I ought to-"

"What did you call me?" asked Isaac, brandishing his sword.

"So you wish to fight, eh? I am Ethan of Illzero! I have inherited the mighty Illzero's powers! You haven't a chance!" Ethan laughed. He extended his arm.

Isaac readied himself, waiting for Ethan to call a spell, but he didn't.

Suddenly, an enormous force of water threw Isaac against the wall, pushing, pushing, pushing. Isaac realized the water wasn't relenting, and he couldn't breathe or move. This was what it was like to drown. And it was much worse than when the man had attacked him earlier.

"-stream!"

The water fell to the ground, and Isaac gasped for air. He turned to see that Kiri had emerged from under the table, and used her Psynergy to push Ethan into a wall using Jetstream.

"Uranus bitch!" he screamed, and lifted his arm, but Isaac called:

"Clay spire!" and two stalagmites fell on Ethan.

Ethan cried out, and extended both arms.

The wooden door burst open, and water from the room he had come from came to the room and charged towards Isaac and Kiri.

But Isaac was ready. He ducked under the water and leapt on Ethan, putting his sword to his throat.

"Stop the water stuff. It's annoying." he said, growling.

Ethan eyed the sword, and then Isaac. He nodded. And kicked Isaac with enough force to throw him off.

"Jetstream!" called Kiri, and the force of air came back.

"Mother Gaia!" called Isaac.

The two Psynergies gave Ethan a terrible beating. He panted.

"You're good," he said. He spread his fingers out and groaned.

An enormous force of water came, and shattered the door. Wooden splinters flew everywhere. Isaac covered his eyes.

"Isaac, the room's filling with water! We've gotta get out of these tunnels!" Kiri cried, and she was correct. The room was filling with water at an alarming rate. She dashed for the door Ethan had come from, but he lifted his hand, and some water pushed her away.

Isaac took a deep breath. The door Ethan had come from might not be a way out. But there was a hole in the tunnel they had come from. Isaac could only pray that the beast had left the tunnel. He sunk below the water's surface and swam towards the place where the wooden door had been. He reached the door way, and attempted to fight the relentless current of water that Ethan was using to flood his own love shack. He ran out of breath, and rose, pushing past the stream of water. He called for Kiri.

"No!" cried Ethan, realizing that Isaac had left the room, and headed towards the doorway.

"Jetstr-aah!" Kiri must have been struck by water.

Isaac charged back into the room. He saw Ethan swaying back and forth. Isaac realized he was getting tired. He would soon use up all of his energy and faint. What he was doing wasn't exactly Psynergy, and thus probably drew on his own strength. Isaac saw Kiri, lying face-down in the rising water. Isaac dashed for her, but Ethan wasn't going to give up.

The water, now stinking of fish, rose and smacked Isaac in the face. He tasted salt from the saltwater.

Isaac used the flat side of his sword to hit Ethan on the head. Ethan's eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell over, unconscious. The water stopped rising, and began to drain out of the doorway.

Isaac seized Kiri, and found her staff lying nearby. He picked that up, too, and headed into the tunnel again. He saw a hole in the ceiling, and stood under it. It was night now, and moonlight spilled through the hole. Isaac lifted Kiri, and pushed her through the hole, and onto the ground above. Then he shoved her staff through the hole. Isaac then sheathed his sword, readied himself, and jumped. He reached out his arms in midair and grabbed a hold of the edge of the hole. He climbed to the surface, and looked around. About a sixth of a league away were lights, a town.

Isaac decided that he and Kiri would see if there was an inn there. He knelt over Kiri and put his hands over her chest.

"Revive," he whispered, and golden light flowed from his hands into Kiri. Her eyes fluttered open.

"What are you doing?" she asked, blinking.

"Waking you up. You fainted." he replied.

"Oh," she said, and looked around.

"Where are we?" she asked, and yawned.

Isaac stood up.

"Above the caves. I knocked Ethan out, grabbed you and your staff, and then got us through a hole in the tunnel we came through. Come on, let's head to that town over there." Isaac said. He lent Kiri his hand, and pulled her up, and then bent down to get her staff, which he handed to her.

Slowly, they walked in the direction of the town.

"Isaac?" asked Kiri, yawning again, "Is a Love Shack a fancy room?"

"Um…yeah…." Isaac said, looking away.

"Oh."

IOE: And thus the chapter ends! This one was fun to write. Well, guys, school is tomorrow, and school means more organized for me. The updates should be just about every week, except from when I go to San Francisco. Well, I hope you enjoyed it! Please read and review!

Flotsam: (And save me!)

Feizhi: AHA! I SHALL FIND YOUUUU! (zooms off)

Hsu: (sweatdrop)

Ivan: I have better things to do than this. (walks away)


	6. Chapter 6

Chaptere au Six

A Good Night's Sleep and the Company Completed

IOE: ('My Immortal' by Evanescence playing. Yeah, I play music while I write. It prevents writer's block.) Hey, guys. Ignira here, updating the fic. Hopefully, this will arrive on time. Fehize: Thanks for reviewing again. Hey, who doesn't love Love Shacks and cursing chicks? (Bakes cupcakes for everyone who reads this)

Feizhi: (sings along to My Immortal and tries to dance sensually)

Flotsam: (gets stepped on)

IOE: I hate apologizing for late updates. So, yeah, school started. Suckiness major.

Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun, nor did I in the last chapter. Nor do I own Evanescence, Mars rest its soul, or the song 'My Immortal.' Damn, I love that song. And I'm not responsible for any injuries that little Flotsam may sustain.

Anyway, here's the fic. Please enjoy and review.

"Uuuuugh…."

"Echhhh…"

Felix turned the corner of the cabin to see Jenna and Garet both leaning over the side of the ship, faces green. He felt bad for them; those two usually got seasick. It wasn't because they were Mars Adepts, as Felix remembered Saturos and Menardi enjoying sailing more than walking.

His mind wandered, remembering them, traveling with them, and fulfilling his promise to the end to protect Sheba. It had been the last time he'd seen them before they had died.

And then he realized.

"Jenna, you're supposed to be look-out!" he scolded, and turned to the ladder that led up to where his sister was supposed to be.

"Ugh…Ivan's covering for me…." she said.

Just then, Ivan and Master Hamma emerged from the cabin.

"Felix, I was wondering…" Ivan started to say.

Felix turned back to his sister, who's head still remained over the ocean.

"…after we get Sheba…"

"Or maybe it was Hamma…I forget…."

"?"

"She's right there."

"…Where do we start looking for the Order of Olympus?"

"Mia?"

The Mercury Adept turned around from the rail on the other side of the ship she had been gazing over.

"Yes?" she asked, blinking.

Felix crossed his arms.

"Jenna, you're a little old to be doing this," he said, and turned to Ivan and Hamma.

"Let's try Kalay to see if they went through there. If not, then Vault. If not Vault, then Lunpa. If they haven't been seen in any of those, then your guess is as good as mine," he said.

Ivan sighed, and turned to his sister. They blinked at each other silently. Felix understood that they were telepathically communicating. Hamma shook her head. Ivan frowned.

"We can't use psychic ability to track them-scrying-it's too powerful for our skill. Once we get Sheba, we may be able to, though." he said.

Felix nodded.

"Alright, then."

And he headed to the ladder leading to the Crow's Nest (A/N: I think that's the name for the lookout's post). He started to climb the ladder, but then Jenna tried to run to him and say something. However, he heard a wretching noise, and she returned to her previous spot. He continued climbing up the ladder, and reached the little basket look out's stood in.

_Splsh!_

Felix blinked, and looked down to the ship.

"Did you hear that?" he called.

"There's a boy in the water!" cried Mia, and pointed. Hamma and Ivan rushed to her side of the boat. Felix pulled out his spyglass and put the small lens to his eye, peering down to where Mia had pointed.

The Adepts, except for Piers, who was busy steering the ship, and the seasick Mars Adepts, gasped, to see briefly the form of a blue and silver-haired boy come to the surface, and started to say:

"Gi-"

But he saw that he had been spotted, and stopped. He began to tread water instead, realizing that he had been caught. He groaned, and reached his left arm down, then muttered something.

A force of water forced it's way out of the sea, propelling the boy onto the ship.

He groaned again as he landed on his backside. Felix recognized the boy as Nathaniel, the youth from Lemuria.

Felix shook his head and put down the spyglass. He climbed down the ladder to the deck of the ship. He walked over to Nathaniel, who was helped up by Hamma.

Nathaniel didn't look too pleased that he was caught. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and his mouth was frowning.

Piers turned the side of his head to see what was going on, and then let go of the wheel. He stormed to Nathaniel, who lowered his head.

"Nathaniel, what are you doing here? I told you to stay _home!_ Do you know how worried they must be at home? You just didn't think, did you? You thought _'To Hell with it, I've gotta do what I want!'_ You aren't even an adult! You have no respect for your elders-"

Mia laid a hand on the Lemurian's shoulder.

"Piers, if I may, you may be taking it a little far," she said carefully. Piers took a deep breath, and turned to Ivan.

"Ivan, if you would please teleport Nathaniel back to-"

_Kssshhht! Clunk!_

Jenna and Garet stood, and began to dance. The rest of the Adepts looked around. The ship had hit a beach, and was now sitting in the middle of sand.

Felix chuckled.

"That's what happens when there's no lookout."

Piers shook his head.

"That's odd. I didn't see any land, and I've been watching the ocean."

Jenna squinted. Felix noticed that she looked perfectly healthy now.

"I don't recognize this place. Where are we, Piers?" she inquired. Piers looked around, and walked into the cabin. Felix looked around now, too. There were plentiful fruit trees, and an immensely thick fog a little bit past them.

"He must be looking for maps," said Ivan, explaining why Piers had disappeared. The others nodded.

"You wanna check it out, Jenna?" asked Garet, and point at the land with his thumb.

Jenna frowned.

"It looks a little…creepy," she said.

"Aw, c'mon, we're Fire Adepts, and we've seen worse. Besides, _I'll_ be with you," he said, hitting his ribs with one arm.

Jenna rolled her eyes.

"I feel _so-o-o_ safe," she said. Garet gave her a look. He took her hand.

"Come on, let's look," he said. Jenna shrugged and went with him. They hopped over the edge of the boat and started walking.

"Better not disappear or something!" Felix hollered after them. Jenna and Garet laughed.

Hamma turned to Nathaniel.

"Jenna knew you'd snuck on board, didn't she?" she asked. Nathaniel nodded.

"But then she got seasick, and I had to stay up there hoping nobody'd come up. I had to sit in that thing, so I couldn't see land even if I wanted to." he said.

"Hmm," said Hamma.

"I think I'll help Piers with the maps and such; he must have an awful lot of them," said Mia, smiling, and she walked into the cabin.

"I'll see if they need any help," said Hamma, and she followed Mia.

There was silence.

"So, lucky you're here, eh? Mercury Adept?" Felix asked casually to Nathaniel.

Nathaniel shrugged.

"I guess. It's just that no one else can perform my type of Mercury Psynergy, and I can only use things connected with the sea. I must be rare or something."

The door to the cabin opened, and Hamma, Mia, and Piers emerged from it. Piers was carrying a large sheet of parchment.

"Apparently, we're where we need to be. I was going to go maybe a league or two past this and we wouldn't have known. Thankfully, I let go of the wheel long enough for it to steer itself here. There is now a peninsula jutting out from where Lalivero is. We can just walk there. It won't be far," he said, and set down the map on the floorboards.

It was a large shape with unfamiliar writing on it. Felix assumed that the writing was Lemurian. Piers pointed to the edge of the shape.

"That's where we are. And Lalivero is here," he said, and pointed to a part of the shape not too far away from where Piers had pointed to before.

"Ah, okay. So that would mean Garet and Jenna are heading in the right direction anyway," said Ivan, and the others nodded.

"Right," said Piers, rolling up the map, "Now all we have to do is walk straight."

He put the map away and joined the others.

Nathaniel brightened.

"Does this mean I'm coming, too?" he asked excitedly.

Piers sighed heavily and nodded. Nathaniel beamed.

"Okay, let's go!" he said, and jumped off the boat. He stood and waited for the others, who climbed over the edge carefully.

Nathaniel walked ahead of them with a cheerful stride. Felix couldn't help but smile at seeing Nathaniel's enthusiasm.

Suddenly, Garet and Jenna came into view. They ran from the fog to them. They stopped a few feet away from Nathaniel to catch their breath.

"Lalivero…" panted Garet. Jenna pointed to the fog.

"That way," she said.

"We know," said Felix and Hamma with amusement.

The Mars Adepts fell over and continued panting.

Piers threw back his head and laughed long and hard, his musical, clear laughter ringing.

"Flare," panted Jenna, and a flash of flame flew at Piers. Nathaniel started to laugh, and Piers laughed even harder.

The Mars Adepts caught their breath and stood up. They glared at Piers and Nathaniel.

"That was _not_ funny," they said together. Piers and Nathaniel stopped laughing, and the company eventually started walking.

"It's not too far from here," said Jenna, as they entered the fog.

"We know," said Felix and Piers, who both chuckled a bit. Felix had almost forgotten the constant antics he and his friends went through. The feeling that it was just like old times was a very happy thought. Felix smiled.

Garet stopped and pointed towards the sky.

"Look," he said, and everyone did so. They gasped.

Babi Lighthouse had been finished.

Isaac lay awake, staring at the gloom of dark. Kiri had probably fallen asleep in the next room. The Venus Adept, meanwhile, couldn't find sleep. He had rolled over and over, and was certainly tired, but sleep refused to come. He sighed, and thought about the day's events.

He had met an odd cult. They said weird things. Hammet arrived, along with Ivan, Hamma, and a huge load of workers. He, Felix, Jenna, and Garet had tea with Ivan and Hamma. Garet had told him about his feelings for Jenna. The cult had showed up and tried to kill Isaac. Jenna had given Isaac an unwanted kiss. Isaac ended up in Erutun and met Kiri and Carver. The Wise One had appeared….

Isaac reflected on what the Wise One had said. What had he meant? What was so special about Isaac?

He went over the possible explanations in his head. He could have been some orphan kid found in the woods and adopted by his parents…but that was too unrealistic and made no sense. There could be some ancestor that was special in some way, but that sounded ridiculous, too.

Or something could have happened when the Golden Sun rose. Something in Isaac gave him a feeling that might be it. But why? How? Why not have something happen to his friends?

He rolled over and took a deep breath. That couldn't be it, then. Moonlight poured from the window onto his back. He stared into the darkness at the old wood, closed his eyes, and let sleep find its way to him.

Ivan stared up at the large, completed Babi Lighthouse. It was enormous. It started with one wide circle as a base, and then the layers above it got smaller. Each layer had windows. At the top was a large gap with a roof over it, presumably where the beacon was supposed to be.

He frowned, and bowed his head in pity for the Lalliveroans forced to work on the structure, even though the one who wanted it built for selfish reasons was dead. He blinked. If Babi _was_ dead, why was it finished?

Once the beacon was in there, they might be able to find Lemuria and harass the Lemurians, but then again, they had no Lemurian boats. Very few mortals had surpassed the whirlpools. Lemuria was safe.

"Wow," breathed Mia. Felix nodded.

"What is that? It's huge," said Nathaniel, blinking at it.

"That is Babi Lighthouse, said Piers, an icy edge to his voice. Nathaniel frowned at the name 'Babi.' Babi wasn't a popular figure in Lemuria.

"It is constructed to pierce the fog protecting the Sea of Time in order to find us," said Piers, his voice now fully icy. He and Nathaniel stared angrily at the Lighthouse.

Ivan understood how they felt. He and Felix stepped forward at the same time. The others looked away from the lighthouse, and began to walk, too. Suddenly, Garet's head smacked into a tree that appeared out of the fog.

He cursed and clutched his head. Jenna, Nathaniel, and Piers laughed. Ivan smiled.

"It's so funny because that's the second time! I think it's the same tree!" Jenna said, bending over and clutching her sides.

"Pfft," said Mia, and she put a hand over her mouth to muffle and discourage laughing. She giggled a bit.

Ivan smiled. Garet roared at his friends to 'cut it out,' so they managed to stop.

Suddenly, laughter rang out through the fog. It echoed everywhere, eerily. The partial GS Crew froze, eyes wide.

Jenna pulled out her Masamune, ready to strike. Ivan looked around for the source of the laughter, preparing to use Psynergy. He saw his other friends ready. Nathaniel looked a little scared but mostly excited. Ivan could tell by his eyes.

A terrible force of wind suddenly came out, pushing itself into their faces. Mia cried out, and the wind stopped. More sinister laughter followed.

Suddenly-

"BOO!"

A short, blonde-haired girl leapt on Mia, who screamed as loud at she could and swung her sword over her head. The little girl cackled and jumped off the Mars Adept's back in time and landed in the middle of the group.

Sheba laughed, her laughter ringing everywhere as it had a minute ago.

Mia put her hand to her chest, as though she'd almost had a heart attack, and hyperventilated. She managed to smile and catch her breath.

"Sheba!" exclaimed Ivan, relived that it was his friend. Her voice echoed in his head as she smirked at him.

_Hi Ivan._

_Long time no see._ He replied, smiling, remembering all of the telepathic conversations they used to have.

"God, you were so scary!" said Garet, laughing. Sheba smirked again and raised her eyebrows.

"I've learned a few tricks. Come on home, it's not far," she said, running forward.

"Hey!" called Ivan, running after her. Nathaniel, Garet, and Jenna ran, too, but Hamma, Felix, Mia, and Piers just walked after them.

For a few seconds, it was just more fog, and then, all of a sudden, it was clear, and Ivan saw that they had run into a dirt road leading to Lalivero. Sheba continued running, dust flying from her sandals, and the Mars Adepts, Nathaniel, and Ivan followed.

Sheba stopped right in front of Faran's house, beaming at them. They stopped and panted to catch their breath. Jenna gave Sheba a hug.

"Feels like its been months! Oh, wait, it has. Sorry," she said, and broke from the embrace.

"It's fine," she replied, "I understand. How have you been? Oh, and Babi Lighthouse is nearly finished, you know," She pointed. Jenna nodded.

"Been great, well, except…we need your help. Isaac's gone missing." She then explained what had happened in Vale, and why they had decided to get her, Mia, and Piers.

When Jenna had finished, Piers and the others had already caught up.

Sheba's happy expression was gone.

"That is very wrong. I'm leaving now. Just wait while I tell Faran and pack," she said, determination now on her face. Felix nodded, and Sheba went inside the house.

Nathaniel looked around, amazed to see a desert town for the first time.

He looked at Piers.

"Who's Faran?"

"He's Sheba's foster father," Piers answered.

"Can I explore?" Nathaniel asked. Piers nodded, and cleared his throat. Nathaniel walked off, and out of sight.

Felix turned to Ivan.

"Remember this place? It really has been a long time since I've been here…better not let the locals see me, though. They might still think I'm a kidnapper or whatever," he said. Ivan nodded.

"I'll give you the heads up if one comes," he said.

"I know you will," said Felix seriously, looking over at a house nearby.

There was quiet for ten minutes or so, and Sheba emerged from the house with a backpack on her shoulders.

"I'm ready," she said, and looked at her friends curiously.

"Who was that boy who was with you?" she asked.

"Nathaniel," replied Piers, looking around for the boy, "He's my teenaged fan club."

"Ah," said Sheba, So how old is _he?_"

Felix smiled and rolled his eyes.

"Fifteen," said Piers with a gentle smile, and then actually turned to Sheba.

"I can't find Nathaniel," he said.

"I can feel his aura," said Sheba. Ivan realized he could feel the aura as well. It was coming from the northeast.

"I don't know why he's over there, but he's in the dig site, where they're trying to see if they can dig out a special rock for the Lighthouse Star." she said.

Piers frowned.

"I smell trouble. Do you know if they've found anything?" he asked.

Sheba shrugged.

"Where is the dig site?"

Sheba and Ivan pointed together. Piers briskly walked in that direction.

Sheba looked at the others.

"Why's he with us?" she asked.

"Snuck on the boat," said Jenna.

"Know anything about him?"

Felix shook his head.

"I think Piers mentioned an aunt, but that's all," he said.

"Ah," said Sheba, and gazed into the distance, over at the hills and plains, and forests.

IOE: There we go. (Stretches) Another chapter, another mile away I am from having a life.

Feizhi: (dancing to the song playing now)

Flotsam: (plugged into a life support museum)

Hsu: (sighing, head in hands)

IOE: Please review; I really want feedback. Man, I just realized I never really wrote about what the characters look like and what they do with their bags. Bad writer! (Smacks self) Anyway, see you soon! .


	7. Chapter 7

Like, Ohmigod, like, Chapter, like, seven! Shoes!

Nathaniel and Sheba

IOE: Yoooo, readers! Ignira writing, instead of your mother, and the San Francisco trip was post-poned, though I have no idea when it will be now. Thanks for reviewing, Fehize. (Looks around to make sure the evil story-deleters aren't looking) And yes, I like Call Me When You're Sober, but Broken is the best. That's an interesting guess about Nathaniel (love his name), but no cigar. (Gives Ferraris to everybody who reads and encourages them to review so angsty Ignira doesn't come out)

Fehize: TURN YOUR GOOD MUSIC ON! I HATE THIS SONG!

(Flotsam, who secretly produced it, runs off crying)(I'm not gonna name it so I can save Disclaimer time)

Hsu: Let's just get a move on…and a muzzle. (sigh) Disclaimer: Ignira of Esperon does not own Golden Sun. Leave her alone.

Garet groaned.

"I'm tired of waiting; let's just go get the kid. We've got a cult to catch," he said.

Felix shrugged.

"Why not?" he asked.

To save time, Ivan decided to just teleport them to where Nathaniel was, but they might land on a worker, so he asked Sheba to do it and pulled out the lapis from his bags.

The female Jupiter Adept nodded, and took the lapis when he offered it.

"Teleport," she said quietly, and the swirling colors came and went, leaving them in very short walking distance of a large hole in the earth. The sounds of picks hitting metal should have been in the air, but instead, there were shouts. Ivan recognized two of them: Nathaniel and Piers.

The Adepts rushed over to the edge of the hole to see several angry miners yelling and pointing at Nathaniel, who glared at them and was standing erect with Piers in front of him. Ivan noticed that there were shattered bits of shiny rock everywhere, and a little hole in the ground. He guessed that the miners had found the rock to use for the Babi Lighthouse Star, and that Nathaniel, being Lemurian and fearing invasion of his beloved home-land, had destroyed it.

"Looks like they're in a nasty fight," said Sheba matter-of-factly.

"I wonder what happened," said Mia, putting her hand over her mouth.

"Let's see what we can do," said Garet, and he walked over to a ladder nearby and climbed down into the mining area. Jenna and Sheba looked at each other and followed him. Felix thought for a moment and decided to follow as well. Mia, Hamma, and Ivan stayed behind.

Ivan noticed his sister staring at the fight, and caught her swirling blue aura, which proved that she was reading their thoughts.

She blinked.

"Well…"

Ivan turned to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She looked at him.

"You are right, but…I don't think that Nathaniel's Lemurian. It popped up without me looking," she said, revealing that she had read her brother's mind, "He is adamant about protecting his home, even though he believes it isn't his."

Ivan looked down in the mining area to the young, blue and silver-haired adolescent now explaining to Ivan's friends what was going on.

"That is strange…." he said.

"What? Nathaniel isn't Lemurian?" asked Mia, who had been watching the argument.

Hamma looked anxious.

"Maybe, but I'd rather not gossip…" she said. Mia's eyes widened in alarm.

"Oh no! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I…" and then she began to apologize to Ivan's sister, who smiled knowingly and forgave her, and then they began to speak about other things.

Ivan saw that the fight had ended, and the Adepts were making their way up the ladder, forming a queue in front of it. The miners set back to their work with unpleasant looks on their faces.

The Adepts then made their way back to Ivan, Hamma, and Mia. Jenna, Felix, Garet, and Sheba all seemed to have the same expressionless faces. Piers looked furious; Nathaniel looked defiant.

Piers took a deep breath.

"Where are we starting to look for the Order of Olympus, Felix?" he asked.

"Vault," he replied.

"Let's go to the ship, then."

Sheba, Mia, Nathaniel, Hamma, Garet, and Jenna all sat in the cabin. Garet and Jenna seemed much less seasick in the cabin than outside of it. In fact, their faces weren't green, and they could speak without wretching.

Sheba enjoyed the silence in the room, but Jenna, who was next to her, seemed uncomfortable with it. Sheba became annoyed with the constant fidgeting beside her, so she decided to bring up a conversation.

She decided to start with Nathaniel, with him being the least known about, and needed something that wasn't insensitive, yet good for talking about….

"So, Nathaniel, how did you learn Psynergy?" she asked. The boy was looking at the ceiling, his head resting in his hand.

"Piers did, when he saw me studying it in the library," he said, not looking at Sheba.

"Interesting. Does your aunt know Psynergy as well?" she asked.

"No. She…can't." he said, shifting his head a little.

"Is there a custom in Lemuria against women practicing-" Jenna began to ask, but Nathaniel answered before she could finish.

"We in Lemuria do not live by such pathetic laws. My _"aunt"_ is incapable of using Psynergy or being affected by Alchemy. It's some sort of illness or curse," he said rather angrily.

The way he said "aunt" struck Sheba as strange, as though she wasn't really related to him.

"Geez-it was just a question," muttered Jenna, and folded her arms.

The door to the cabin opened, and Piers entered.

"I need to rest. Nathaniel, if you would please replace my position for a bit," he said. Nathaniel brightened at hearing those words, said something so fast that Sheba couldn't understand it, and rushed out the door, dust following him.

Piers blinked and sat where the young man once sat.

"Piers," said Garet suddenly, "Is Nathaniel adopted?"

Sheba's eyes widened in surprise at the immense insensitivity and blunt of her friend.

Piers rubbed his eyes and lay back. He stretched his arms.

"Not exactly officially. The boy's unconscious body was found a few years ago by the sea's edge. We don't know how he ended up there, or how a young boy managed to get across the Sea of Time, even conscious. We estimated his age, so that's why we say he's fifteen now," said he.

Sheba listened intently. So Nathaniel was like her. Found unconscious after doing something that should have killed you. Not knowing your age, where you're from, or even who you are.

She remembered waking up to see a man standing over her with a tray, saying something to a plump, old lady. It was nighttime; she could see from the window next to the bed she was in.

_The man blinked seeing that her eyes were open._

_"So she's awake! Hello, little one! You gave us quite a fright, falling from that high and living to tell the tale! You must be hungry. Here," he said, and set down the tray on her lap._

_She sat up and looked around the little house she was in. It had a straw roof, and there were pots and pans all over the wall. The woman near her bed gasped at seeing her face._

_"What a beautiful child!" she exclaimed, "God-like hair, and the most glittering Emerald eyes!"_

_She blinked Her stomach hurt.._

_"Thank you, ma'am," she said, and began to eat._

_"What is your name, Sheba Yuna?" asked the woman._

_She stopped eating and her mouth opened. Everything seemed to pile on top of her all of a sudden, and she began to cry._

_"I don't know," she wailed, "I don't know!"_

_After the man and woman consoled her, the man spoke:_

_"Would you like a name, Sheba Yuna?" he asked kindly._

_She cocked her head._

_"Yes, but what's that? Sheba-what?" she asked. The man and woman smiled warmly._

_"'Child of the Gods,'" replied the man. She thought for a moment._

_"I like 'Sheba.' It's pretty. Can I be Sheba? What are your names, man and woman?" she asked, not knowing what else to call them._

_"What a fine name, 'Sheba', 'Of Gods.' My name is Manya, and this is Faran. If you'll let us, we can be your mom and dad, seeing as you can't remember." Manya said gently. Sheba nodded as she bit into her food. The thought of being all alone with a name, but no parents was too sad. These people were kind enough; of course they could be her parents._

But Manya had died soon after that. And after overcoming her sorrow, Sheba began to wonder. Who were her real parents? How had she falled form the sky? Who was she really?

Those questions had never been answered, even though she had been all over the world, secretly searching for who she had been.

Sheba's thoughts were interrupted as Jenna asked a question:

"So why does he call her 'aunt'?"

"Because he doesn't like the idea of her replacing his real parents," said Piers with a sigh. Sheba could tell that he was really tired.

"The poor boy," said Mia sympathetically.

"I know how he feels," said Sheba quietly, "He must feel very alone, not knowing anything about himself."

Mia and Jenna looked at her with sympathy.

Piers sighed.

"Yes, well, he would spend a great amount of his time alone in either the library or the graveyard, so I just decided to teach him Psynergy. That's why he sort of looks up to me, and why he's a little more social now. Please don't mention to him what I've told you."

The Adepts nodded. Sheba frowned and looked out the window, staring at the beautiful sea. She wondered if Nathaniel had fallen from the sky as well, as though they had both come from somewhere in the sky-heaven perhaps, or maybe he was from another mysterious corner of Weyard.

Ivan entered the cabin.

"Sheba, I'm very tired. Could you…?"

She nodded.

"Sure." and got up, leaving Ivan behind, and climbed up to the Crow's Nest.

High Priest Charon waited patiently on a bench in the candlelit hall, reading a book. The bench was near a closed door, from behind which, a loud voice was speaking, and the words echoed in the hall.

"I think that finishes it up for today. May the Gods watch over you," High Priest Triton's voice echoed, and then there were sounds of people replying something, and getting out of their chairs.

High Priest Charon closed his book. The door opened, and several people exited, a few stopping to bow to Priest Charon and greet him. He nodded, and strode into the room, where High Priest Triton was descending from a podium, where he had been speaking to his followers. The room had a small window, from which sunlight came in through. There were seats with desks everywhere, and a bookshelf behind the podium that High Priest Triton was coming down from.

High Priest Charon bowed, and once Triton had descended, he returned to bow.

"High Priest Triton, I was just wondering…have you yet discovered what exactly happened to the boy…Isaac, when we tried to eliminate him?" Charon asked.

Triton shook his head.

"I've spent a good deal of my time in between teaching and praying studying in our library, but I have as of yet found nothing," he said.

"I have found nothing, nor has High Priestess Phoebe _or_ High Priestess Miranda. This is quite a mystery, isn't it?" Charon asked. Triton nodded.

"In time, the Gods may guide us to the answer, if we are destined to know. Is that all?" he asked.

Charon shook his head.

"The friends of Isaac. They were able to wield the elements. Should they hunt us out of revenge…."

Triton shook his head.

"They've no clue. And even if they managed to make it to Tolbi, there is still the fact that we have our own secret underground system for caution of lynching. It will be like we were never here," he said.

Charon nodded and bowed.

"Yes, of course. Thank you for your time," he said, and Triton bowed as well. And then Charon left.

As soon as he was in the hall, he noticed High Priestess Miranda walking towards him. She held a very thick, very old book in her hands. High Priestess Phoebe was following her. When they were close enough to Charon so that they could speak, they bowed, despite the weight of the book inconveniencing the bow of Priestess Miranda, who said:

"I have the answer. I found it in one of our oldest of volumes. Do you have a moment? Is High Priest Triton available?"

Charon nodded, and they all entered the room that Charon had just come from.

Once they saw Triton, they all bowed, and Miranda explained that she had found the answer to the previously unsolved question. Triton told her to set down the book on one of the desks in the room.

Miranda did as she was told. The cover of the book had ancient writing on the beaten, purple leather cover, and opened the book. She flipped through the yellowed pages with ripped ends here and there. She stopped at a page with a great amount of writing and a sketch on the page next to it.

The sketch had four circles attached to a narrow oval with a map of Weyard inside of it. The drawings of the continents looked different than the modern map. Charon figured it was because old-fashioned mapping was less advanced than the cartography of today. He also noticed that there were four different circles attached to a different narrow oval with a map that had similar continents to Weyard, but were slightly different.

Inside of the smaller circles were symbols. Each one had a symbol for a different god of Olympus: one for Aphrodite, one for Ares, one for Zeus, one for Hermes, one for Poseidon, one for Hades, one for Ouranous, and one for Chronos.

"What…?"

"Apparently, there is another world, similar to Weyard. Here, in this world, the dominant powers of existence are Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury. In this other world, the dominant powers are Neptune, Saturn, Pluto, and Uranus. If all of these holy powers are together, they can be used to get from one of these worlds to the other." explained Miranda.

"Why would this be…?" pondered Triton, his hand under his chin as he leaned over to see the book.

"We do not know. But this explains why Isaac was not killed. I've read several books on Alchemy. Alchemy is all four of the elements together. The overflowing power in Isaac is Alchemy, but I do not know how he managed to obtain this without perishing. When we all attacked him with our blessed tokens and they were all trying to destroy his existence by using his own power against him, they were combined, and so became a portal, and he disappeared." said Phoebe.

"So, he is wandering in this other world…. If he still has Alchemy inside of him, there is still danger." said Triton.

"Should we try to find a way into this other world, or let it be their problem?" asked Miranda.

"I say let it be their problem. Whether they live or die in this other place is none of our concern," said Charon. It was ridiculous. Those people could save themselves, and if they couldn't, it wouldn't affect Weyard, would it?

"What if he finds a way back to Weyard?" asked Miranda.

"We can find him, and finish the job we started. This could also prove useful. We have some high-ranked priests and a priestess who worship the Gods of the Elements, yes? If the allies of Isaac find us, seeking revenge, we can simply transport them or us to the other world for safety. They can bless an item with their god or goddess' power, and we'll be ready," suggested Charon.

"That sounds like a good idea, but…something doesn't feel right about it," said Phoebe anxiously.

"I like it. High Priestess Miranda, if you would please summon Priests Kakeru, Aubrey, Craig, and Priestess Maia," said Triton. Miranda bowed, and the others bowed back. She left the room.

The ship stopped, and Nathaniel heard a _clunk_. He looked over the bow to see that there was an enormous rock in the middle of the river. The ship couldn't go any farther. He dashed to the cabin and opened the door.

"Either we get off here or we hover over this rock in the middle of our path," he said.

"Do you know where we are?" asked Piers.

Nathaniel shook his head. Piers rose from where he sat, walked to a chest, opened it, and pulled out a map. He gave it to Nathaniel.

Nathaniel unrolled it and inspected the Angara continent. He followed the river he suspected they were on, and estimated where they were now.

"We're near the Lamakan Desert and…a temple. They aren't far away," he said.

"That's Master Hamma's temple, isn't it?" asked Garet.

Hamma and Ivan nodded.

"Let's visit it, then. It will be very short, I promise. I just want to see how things are running, and maybe prepare a meal for you all. You must be hungry," said Hamma. Jenna and Garet nodded.

Nathaniel shrugged. Why not? But what would happen afterwards?

"Should we just fly over the rock, then?" he asked.

"That should do the trick," said Mia. The others nodded.

"Alright, let's go," said Felix, and they left the boat. Piers took the black orb with him, and they walked and walked until they saw the temple. After a little more walking, they were on the temple grounds.

But something didn't feel right to Nathaniel. The place felt deserted. There was no one walking around. He noticed a cobwebbed basket by a pond.

"Where is everyone?" asked Sheba.

Hamma narrowed her eyes and hurried into the temple. She threw opened the doors. The company followed her.

Once inside, Nathaniel looked around. There were shelves with a few items on them, and a meditation carpet on the floor. The candles on either side of the door he had just come through were unlit, and the incense burner in one corner of the room looked like it hadn't been used in a while.

Master Hamma looked around.

"What in the name of Jupiter!" she cried, seeing a crate over the meditation rug.

"Move," said Felix sternly, and a ghostly hand shoved aside the crate.

Master Hamma threw up the meditation rug, revealing a trapdoor. She opened it and climbed down the ladder under it. Ivan followed her. Nathaniel could see by his face that he was alarmed.

Sheba and Jenna climbed down after them, and then the rest of them, leaving Nathaniel above ground. He looked down into the depths, and heard Master Hamma.

"What has happened? Awaken, awaken!" she cried.

Nathaniel climbed down the ladder to see three incredibly thin boys blinking open their eyes and sitting up. He could see their ribs and their jawbone. They had been trapped down here and starved. But why?

When one of the boys had his eyes open, he gasped when he saw Master Hamma, and wept over her feet.

"Hamma-sama! Thank the heavens! We are saved!" he yelled.

Hamma turned to Ivan. He nodded, and climbed up the ladder. Nathaniel wondered if he was getting water. The other boy had his eyes fully open, and wept upon his master's feet as well.

"Who trapped you down here? Where are the others?" asked Hamma, brushing the dirty cheek of the boy with her hand.

He looked up at her with wide eyes.

"The others trapped us down here. They're gone," he said.

"What!" exclaimed Sheba.

IOE: And so it ends! Oh-cliffhanger!

Feizhi: (holds next chapter hostage in exchange for good music) Grr!

Hsu: Dammit, Feizhi!

IOE: No, there isn't a 'thing' going on between Nathaniel and Sheba…or is there? They do have a lot in common…and poor kids. Well, please review! Toodles!


	8. Chapter 8

C-to the-H-to the-a-p-t-e-r, Girl, it's so late!

Pushing Forward

IOE: Hey, guys! Remember me? Well, I missed this fic for…oh, has it been 2 years? So I decided to continue it! I might even go back and fix up some chapters if I can because some parts were dreadful.

Flotsam: The cobwebs… cough, cough

IOE: Anyways, my format isn't so familiar to me. Seems a lot…smaller, even though it's size 10 Arial, double-spaced. Huh. So, um, I've improved writing-wise, so this shouldn't be so painful! Fehize, especially, I missed you.

Feizhi: So did I, to be honest.

IOE:Also, I'm going to say, just for the record and incase I forget, nu-uh, no pairing between Nathaniel and Sheba. I was just messing with you in the last chapter. Still, I want them to bond, and have Nathaniel become more acquainted with Felix, because they, too, have similarities. Enough chatter! Disclaimer, please?

Flotsam: Disclaimer: Ignira of Esperon, the author of this fic, does not own Golden Sun. Mmkay?

"The others left you down here?!" exclaimed Jenna.

Thinking quickly, Piers turned to Nathaniel.

"Go to the nearest town and get some food. _Now,_" he said fiercely. Piers could see the fear and disgust in Nathaniel's eyes. How could people, especially those devoted to a pure, holy life, do something like this? Nathaniel turned to Sheba, who was nearest to him.

"I'll need a second pair of arms. We should bring down as much food as possible," he said. Sheba gave him a quick nod and was up the ladder in a flash. Nathaniel left right after the Wind Sorceress.

Piers stared at the men. How long had they been down there? He realized that the air was stale.

"We need to give them some fresh air," he said.

"We can't bring them upstairs," said Felix, "Their bodies are too fragile, even if we use Psynergy."

"Whirlwind," said Hamma. Her blue aura swirled, and a moderate gust of wind circled the center of the room. The air seemed fresher.

The men tried to speak to Hamma, but she shushed them. Piers saw in her eyes a mixture of fear and determination. Her eyes pierced their faces, and her aura swirled.

Felix seemed to remember something.

"Jenna, where is the nearest town?" he asked.

"Altin," his sister replied, and then she realized that neither Nathaniel nor Sheba probably knew so. Piers watched her rush out of the room to direct Sheba and Nathaniel.

Piers' eyes went back to Hamma. Her expression became more and more serious. She spoke.

"After I left," began she, "A group of Adepts acquainted with the other students came to the temple on several occasions to rest and worship before venturing into the desert. The others didn't know at first, but the Adepts were raiding small Altin mines in the desert looking for Psynergy stones…."

Jenna returned. Hamma continued:

"When my students found out, they refused to allow the raiding party to rest here. The Adepts roughed them up a little, but didn't want to do much harm to holy people and had to oblige. They ventured into the desert. They returned several hours later asking for help. It was apparent that something was wrong because the Adepts did not look well. These three refused to let the others bring supplies into the mines to help. After arguing, and several pupils leaving anyway, a few of the students left locked these three in the basement and left to help. Obviously, they never returned."

Piers shivered. He didn't want to think about what would have happened if the party had not arrived sooner. He noticed something else in Hamma's eyes.

"Hamma, don't feel guilt," he said. Hamma shook her head.

"Of course I feel guilt, but what I really need to focus on is restoring my pupils," she said, taking a deep breath. Her blue aura swirled as she gave the students a tender look. Piers knew she was telling them something telepathically.

Ivan returned with a bucket of water. As he started to descend the ladder, Piers Frosted the surface of the water to prevent it from spilling. Hamma gently took the water, broke the ice at the top, and began to gently pour water down each of her pupils' throats.

"We should investigate the mining area," said Felix. Piers was about to suggest the same thing.

Isaac, fully dressed and packed, knocked on the door.

"Kiri?" No answer. He knocked and called again and again. There was no answer each time. He sighed. Was she playing a game?

"Kiri, I'm going to open this door," he called, and then proceeded to open the door to her inn room. He looked around. Kiri appeared to be absent. Her bags were neatly placed next to the door. The bed was a mess; there appeared to be pieces of food on it, and the covers were in a mess. The top quilt was lying in a messy heap on the floor. Beside the bed, the bedside table was on the floor, but the lamp was sitting beside the bed next to a book. One the other side of the bed, the window let in gorgeous rays of sunlight. The window was open all the way to let in a healthy breeze. Isaac imagined that Kiri liked to feel the heavens near her while she slept.

Seeing that the miniature Uranus Adept--or Proficient, as Erutuns called it—was absent from her trashed room. He decided not to wait for her and go into town. He needed to go, anyway—he was starving. He started to leave, but then realized that only Kiri had money, so he headed into his room and grabbed a few things he didn't need. Closing the door behind him, he left the inn.

Outside the small inn, it was a beautiful morning. There were people everywhere in the town. The scent of the three rivers running through the town met his nostrils, along with the scents of the city's foods…and garbage. While Isaac would always prefer the country life, the environment of big city by the water was always an overwhelmingly good feeling.

He asked the woman nearest him where the nearest shop was. After giggling and giving him a sly look, she gave him the directions. Isaac thanked her and quickly left. He couldn't shake the feeling of a pair of eyes on his backside.

He turned a corner to find a whole street of shops. Vendors called to pedestrians, trying to make a sale. Isaac soon found the proper shop for buying and selling and managed to get decent prices for his items. Further down the street was a bakery. He entered it and bought himself breakfast, and then left. As soon as he exited the door, he heard interesting sounds from the nearest alley. Munching on his breakfast, he peaked in.

A group of youths, from children to adolescents, were gathered around two young Adepts using Psynergy to fight each other. Several members of the crowd threw down very small purple rocks, perhaps Psynergy stones, onto the battle ground.

Isaac was fascinated. It was some sort of children's Adept tournament!

He squinted to see Kiri coming towards him. She had a new pack now, and her pockets were filled with little Psynergy stones.

"Hi! Sleep well? I was off to visit relatives while we were in town, and then I saw this on my way back and decided to place bets!" she greeted.

Isaac sighed.

"Kiri, we really should get going," he said.

"Sure, sure!" she said, and they began to head back. Isaac finished his breakfast, satisfied with his purchase. Kiri started to whistle.

"So, you were visiting relatives?" he asked. Kiri nodded.

"My aunt's family lives here. I stopped by to say hi and all. They gave me some stuff and some more money to give to you," she said. Isaac gave her a look. As though reading his mind, she said:

"I told them you were an amateur cleric in our town and a friend of Carver's on a pilgrimage to the Uranus Shrine. They think me and Grandpa are guiding you about this far and then you'll go the rest of the way."

"And they believed you?" Isaac asked incredulously. Kiri shrugged.

"Grandpa's very religious. They'd believe that he would guide a priest to a shrine. It wouldn't be the first time," she replied.

Isaac had no idea. He wondered if Kiri was lying.

"You know, that's the reason I live with Grandpa. My family wanted me to have more of a religious influence in my life. Didn't you wonder why the daughter of a merchant travelling the world would live like I do with Grandpa?" she asked.

Isaac shook his head. He hadn't. He suspected, however, that Carver's influence barely worked, between Kiri's self-interest, lying to her elders, and recent gambling

"My grandfather believes in simplicity. He gave away most of the money he got from my father and kept a small portion for emergencies and the like. He could live in a fine house here, but he'd prefer to live a simpler life. It's a little more spiritual," she explained.

Isaac remembered Carver saying a prayer to himself before eating the other day during his lunch with Kiri and Carver. He also recalled that during the shopping that followed luncheon, Carver crossed himself each time he exited a building.

"Oh, I just remembered!" cried Kiri with excitement.

"What?" asked Isaac.

"I helped a boy back at the alley tournament, a Pluto Proficient. He said he used to have this really neat scale that could come in handy when he and his Neptune Proficient friend went exploring along the river. After his friend left, it was useless to him because he's not a Neptune Proficient. So, he buried it. He gave me a map to show me where he buried it," she said, pulling out a wadded ball of paper from her pocket.

"Kiri, neither of us is a Neptune Proficient," said Isaac. Kiri nodded.

"But, we'll need one if we want to enter the shrine," she said, "And this item could really help."

Isaac felt like he was back in Weyard on his quest. Four sacred areas, special items, and one Adept for each place. Suddenly, Isaac felt homesick. This time, he couldn't even go back home just to see his mother this time, though. He was in a completely strange place where he didn't know anyone. What were they doing now? Isaac miserably imagined his friends scouring the corners of the world, looking for him in vain.

"You haven't told me too much about where you're from. What is it called, Weird?" Kiri asked.

Isaac shook his head. They were nearly to the inn.

"Weyard."

"Tell me about it," Kiri said.

Nathaniel and Sheba had finally reached the temple. The ship lowered. (A/N: they figured it was faster to use the boat than to run. Plus, it saves energy) He and Sheba carefully carried the food they'd bought from Altin off of the ship and into the temple grounds.

Mia and Ivan came out to meet them and help carry in the food. They carefully brought it down the ladder. Sheba and Nathaniel followed.

Nathaniel looked around. Torches and candles were lit. The three thin men were lying on blankets. Hamma was carefully sitting them up and gently pouring water down their throats. Nathaniel looked around. The others were missing.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"In the Lamakan Desert," replied Ivan.

"Why in Lemuria's name are they in there?" asked Nathaniel incredulously.

"What happened to these men?" asked Sheba, looking down on the three. One tried to speak, but Hamma quieted him.

**Hamma then explained what happened to the monks.**

"Garet, Felix, Piers, and Jenna headed for the desert to investigate. I stayed with my sister and Mia stayed to heal," said Ivan.

"I don't understand. Felix told me that even Adepts are in danger surviving that desert. How can normal people go in there to mine without dying?" asked Sheba.

"Altin mining companies have hired a few Water Adepts to maintain a cooler air around them. Once underground, it's supposed to be cooler," explained Hamma, "We've had mining groups come through here for a while now. Some entrepreneurs and scientists think there can be benefits to harvesting Psynergy stones."

Mia opened a small jar of soup. Hamma quickly seized it. Mia listened to the chest of one of the students.

"Hamma, you must feed them a very small portion," warned Mia.

"Why?" asked Sheba, kneeling next to the men.

"It'll upset their system. They'll die if we try and feed them too much," explained Hamma.

Nathaniel wondered if they would have to take some of the food on the ship with them or have it be wasted.

"We bought all this food..." he said.

"I don't think we'll be going anywhere soon. Isaac will have to wait. Once it's time to leave, we'll see if my students are well enough to consume the rest of the food before it runs out," said Hamma, sitting up one of the thin men and carefully pouring soup down his throat.

"Sister, we can't stay that long. Isaac needs us," said Ivan.

Hamma sighed.

"I'm beginning to think that I should stay at the temple and have you all go without me," said she, "because I simply can't imagine how I'll be able to restore these three before it's too late for Isaac."

"Sister, as much as I don't want to part, I think that soon, that should probably have to happen," said Ivan. There was silence between them. Nathaniel assumed that the conversation continued telepathically.

"It's getting dark," observed Garet.

Jenna wasn't sure whether it was the slight cold that came with the desert's night or the creepy feeling that made her shiver. She and Garet were a little separate from Piers and Felix.

"It feels like something's wrong," she said.

"Yeah…and it feels like there's a slight…" Garet couldn't find the word.

"A tug. I feel a small tug from where we're going," whispered Jenna.

"Are you scared?" asked Garet, giving her an odd look.

"Why shouldn't I be? The students never returned. People were messing with Psynergy stones in an evil desert. It's nighttime and we're headed to where they probably disappeared," she replied.

"And the tugging. That's scary," added Garet. Jenna didn't want to talk about the tugging, even acknowledge it. Thinking about it made it seem that much scarier.

"Are you scared?" asked Jenna.

"Not really," said Garet nonchalantly. He shrugged. Jenna gave a nervous laugh.

"You don't need to act macho. No one's judging you're manliness."

Garet glanced at her.

"Maybe I want to make you feel better," he said.

Jenna rolled her eyes and giggled.

"Of course, I feel much safer with _Garet_ around. He's not afraid of anything. Except for me. And his mom. And his grandmother. And his sister. Oh, and trees," she teased.

"You'd be scared, too, after what we went through in Kolima," said Garet.

"So there was a curse turning people into trees and a big one wanted to get you, too. Big deal. We went into a village filled with werewolves at night one time. I wasn't scared," said Jenna.

Jenna felt her skin crawl as Garet put his arm around her.

"Yes, you were," he said, chuckling.

Just then, Jenna heard something from the east. She turned to see a dark shadow rushing towards them. Garet withdrew his arm from Jenna and drew his sword as it approached. Jenna squinted. It was some sort of dog, perhaps a coyote. It was sort of limping. Jenna winced as something flew off of its foot. It looked almost like… a bone.

Jenna turned to see that Felix and Piers were looking at it, too. Jenna heard Garet say under his breath:

"It's eyes!"

His stance loosened.

Jenna thrust out her arm.

"Beam!"

A jet of light shot out and slammed the animal in the face and it fell. The four Adepts ran to see what it was. As the thing began to rise, Jenna froze. Parts of it were still on the ground. She could now see what Garet was talking about. Its eyes were missing. Sockets gazed at nothing. The canine-like beast gave a howl. It shook Jenna's soul. She felt that she couldn't move. She could only gaze in horror as the thing ran with a more pronounced limp towards them. An awful smell greeted them. Jenna recalled the serpent's lair at Gaia Rock. The stink of the serpent's victims that littered the floor. The dog charging at them was rotting.

Garet began to charge, his sword at the ready. Jenna reached out and wanted to warn him, but she felt numb.

Garet's sword gave out a howl. There was a flash of light and the dog was consumed by the sword's Inferno. It's smoking remains lay in the desert sands.

Jenna rushed toward it. The terrible stench of melting flesh assaulted her nose. She covered it and examined the remains. They began to twitch, but then lay still. Jenna assumed it was because the parts had been broken down too much to animate.

"Get away from there. We need to press on," said Felix softly. Jenna let him tug her away and they continued on.

Not too long after that, Piers said:

"The east."

They looked as one to the east to see three dogs rushing towards them.

She, Jenna, and Garet both immediately cast fire Psynergies while Felix and Piers drew their weapons. Piers sheathed his Excalibur, seeing that Felix's Sol Blade was out. The Sol Blade did quick work finishing off the hounds.

"I think that we will be seeing more and more of those things as we get closer," speculated Piers.

Jenna felt the same way.

It was nearly night now, and they had finally reached the entrance to the mine. Felix and Garet carried torches. Several tools lay outside of the cave, partially buried by the desert sand. Several crates were nearby, filled with Psynergy stones. The four of them gazed into a hole dug by miners. There was a terrible stench coming from it.

"Should we go in?" asked Jenna with uncertainty. She didn't want to at all. The whole reason they came here was to figure out what happened to the miners, but after facing a whole slew of what Jenna assumed were reanimated corpses of desert animals until reaching this point, there was hardly any doubt about what they would encounter in the cave. The four coyotes had only been the beginning. The four had been assaulted by animated buzzard corpses, snake corpses, giant spider corpses, and even more coyote corpses, along with whole skeletons of other desert animals. Jenna did not want to even think about what would be encountered in the cave.

"I'm for heading back," said Garet.

"We came all this way," said Felix, "and I think that we need to find out what's causing these creatures unrest."

"I think it's pretty simple. The desert's evil because of the Psynergy stones. These people were mining and came across them, probably a huge load of them. The stones caused trouble," said Garet.

Jenna wanted to agree with him, but…

"Garet, what about the pulling?" she asked.

"There are a lot of stones in the mine, I guess, so it attracts our Psynergy or something," said Garet.

"Even so," said Piers, "I don't feel right about leaving these people. Shouldn't we lay them to rest?"

"You mean we should set them on fire? That's the only thing that seems to work," said Garet.

Piers sighed, and solemnly nodded.

Jenna heard her brother make a small grunting noise. She looked to him to see him leaning into the cave.

"Felix-"

"I have a funny feeling," he said, interrupting.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Felix seemed to be weighing something in his head. Then he nodded.

"I'm going to go in, but not too far in. I just have a feeling that there's something in this cave…" he said.

"You-you can't be serious! Don't go in!" she called to her brother. It was too late. He was in the cave.

"Felix!"

The idea of her brother wandering around in that cave just to investigate some stupid feeling…. Jenna sighed.

"I'll just wait," she said irritably, sitting down, and then a thought occurred to her.

"Garet, you know how Psynergy stones would corrupt things, like in Kolima forest?" she asked.

"Yeah, weren't we talking about my bravery in there a while back?" he asked.

"Sure. Well, now that the Golden Sun is up, should Psynergy stones still be corrupting things?" she asked. Alchemy was unleashed now. Psynergy stones shouldn't be having problems conducting their energies into other objects. Kraden explained something like this to her a month or so ago.

"Well, this cave is evidence to the contrary," sighed Garet.

"But what if your speculation is wrong?" asked Jenna. Now her worry for Felix grew.

"Do you know what I just realized?" Piers suddenly spoke.

"What?" asked Jenna quickly, worried that it would be some other facts making her brother's situation seem worse.

Piers looked a little alarmed at Jenna's reaction.

"I was just thinking…. We only find large collections of stones in places of great power, like in the elemental rocks," Piers said slowly.

"And in Mt. Aleph," added Garet.

"And there's a large collection of stones apparently under Lamakan Desert, as those crates over there indicate," said Piers.

"So…you mean that this desert could have…or could be a place of elemental power?" asked Jenna.

"Or not. Perhaps it's a result of Alchemy. Maybe the underground Lamakan is a good environment for growing Psynergy stones," said Piers.

"But it's not like they would just form like any rock. Surely Psynergy or something is necessary, right?" asked Jenna.

"Hang on…you know Altin, the mining town? Deep in the mines, we found this area that looked…developed. The walls were perfectly chiseled with this special kind of stone. There was even a staircase," said Garet.

"Do you think that perhaps an ancient civilization such as Lemuria dwelled there?" asked Piers.

"Why not? There was this other cave, near Tolbi, where we found stuff like that way in the bottom of the cave," said Garet. Jenna imagined golden treasure rooms with ancient writings on the wall.

"Wait…Kraden told us once about deserts. Remember, Garet? Some of the researchers suspect that because of all the sand, they might have been oceans or lakes once," said Jenna. This was getting exciting.

"So, this area might have been an ancient civilization by the sea at one time! This area, where we're sitting, right here, could have been something like Aqua Rock or Mt. Aleph!" exclaimed Garet.

Jenna understood why her brother had ventured down there now. The pulling must have been ancient powers.

"So, why are there zombies and things around?" asked Garet.

"Perhaps it's unrest, or hallowed areas being disturbed," replied Piers.

Jenna's heart began to pound. She had to get Felix. He could be headed into deeper and deeper danger. She leapt up, drew her sword, and charged into the cave.

"We have to get Felix!" she heard Piers behind her cry, and then their footsteps followed hers.

IOE: And there ya have it! Am I little bit better this time..?

Feizhi: They were so close to Xian! How come I'm not in this fic?

IOE: I don't need you.

Flotsam: (squirts water like the adorable little Djinni he is)

IOE: Please, please, please review and keep reading!! It was so amazing to see people's thoughts and it just rocks that my crap is getting attention!

Flotsam: Peace out, home slice!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter the to 9th power

Chapter the to 9th power

Into the Cave

IOE: Yay! I got reviews! And I'm actually continuing to write this! Izzykins and Feizhi, thank you so much! I'm blushing!

Feizhi: Get on with it.

IOE: Please keep reading, everyone!

Flotsam: Disclaimer time! Disclaimer: Ignira of Esperon does not own Golden Sun. And she really wishes that there was a third one that she could waste her time on.

After the longest time, during which there was much running, slipping, and panting in the dark without catching up to Jenna, Piers called to her:

"Jenna, wait up!" The Flame Master was too far ahead to be seen by torchlight; she was swallowed by the dark. He heard nothing, figuring she was too far ahead to hear.

"Alright," muttered Piers, but as he took a step forward, his torch was extinguished.

"Damn, I think Felix has the tinderbox," said Garet from behind him. Piers squinted in the dark. He didn't even see any smoke from the top of his torch. Hesitantly, he poked the top of his torch. A shiver crawled up his spine.

"It-It's cold as ice," shuddered the Lemurian. Garet asked for the torch and tried to light it with a small Flare Psynergy. The torch flickered, and then the flame went out. Garet attempted several more times, but the torch refused to remain lit. Garet cursed. Piers detected a hint of fear in his voice.

"I think something's keeping us from having light. Can't you just conjure a flame and hold it?" he asked.

"I-I'm not fireproof. N-no…. I can't see a damned thing…." whispered the Mars Adept. Piers thought he heard Garet mutter something about Altmiller Cave.

Piers' heart sank as he realized….

"We left our Djinn on the ship, didn't we?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Garet with misery.

"Should we go back and get them? The Mars Djinn could provide more light at least," said Piers.

"We can't leave Felix and Jenna in this place. Let's press onward; come on," Garet urged. He gave Piers a little push, and they advanced further into the cave. The cave became darker and darker as Piers and Garet got deeper. The rancid smell enwrapped the two Adepts like the darkness, and became stronger and stronger with the dark. It was also difficult to keep one's footing; Piers had to feel along the walls of the cave to keep his balance. The fear of running straight into something terrifying or falling down a hole he could not see ahead of him gripped the Lemurian. To make things even more unsettling, there was a peculiar…pull from deeper in the cave that seemed to draw Piers in. As things got darker and smellier, the pull became stronger. He called to Jenna, asking her to tell him when he was near, so as not to run into her. Jenna didn't reply, but Piers didn't acknowledge it aloud; he didn't want things to feel eerier than they already were.

He kept running, listening for Jenna to call, but she didn't. This made no sense to Piers; he was certain that she hadn't been too far ahead. Had he unknowingly made a wrong turn down a different tunnel, or was something preventing Jenna from calling?

"Jenna?" called Garet uncertainly, probably sharing Piers' fears. A muffled scream followed. Both men ran towards the scream at once, but immediately, Piers felt something cold meet his body. He grunted and felt something warm trickle down his face. It took him a minute to realize that he'd fallen over and cut his face. Piers blindly felt around for a wall to help himself up. A groan came from next to him.

"I think I tripped on your foot or something," he heard Garet say.

Piers began to assess the situation. He couldn't see, it seemed that something was preventing light in the cave, he was far away from his comrades, an unnatural force was pulling them further into the cave, and the area was very dangerous. He became paralyzed with fear, realizing how bad the situation seemed. He felt that he had little power against something unknown, something that had more power, more control over whatever might happen than he, Piers.

Garet managed to get up after slipping a few times. The Mars Adept was very quiet; Piers wondered if he was sharing the Mars Adept's thoughts.

"Don't…think about it…." Garet whispered to himself. It made sense to Piers; it only made one even less strong if one allowed himself to be overwhelmed by an already disadvantageous situation. As Piers tried to free himself from his own paralysis, he realized that it was easier said than done. Fear and the dark now held him tight with imaginary ropes. And like a friend's hand when it's most needed, courage gently warmed his spirit. Piers rose.

"Garet?" he asked.

"Yeah," the Mars Adept replied.

"Jenna and Felix are in danger," he said. He heard Garet take a deep breath. Garet slowly began to walk deeper into the dark. Piers followed, his hand tracing the many cracks in the wall.

After a few moments, Garet spoke:

"You know what I realized?"

"What?" asked Piers.

"We haven't run into anything. With a creepy place like this, don't you think we'd at least run into one monster?" Garet asked.

Piers agreed. It was strange. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not: it could mean that Felix had taken them all down on his way into the tunnel (if he had, they would have no idea; they wouldn't be able to see the corpses), or that whatever was causing this strange things to happen in the desert and the cave either frightened off all other enemies or saved them all for one great strike against intruders…intruders such as Adepts, whose Psynergy would protect them from being subdued or enchanted. What kind of _moistos_ did the miners find in here?

"I guess Felix is pretty…capable," said Garet. Piers was silent, not really listening to Garet but instead straining his ears for any ambient noise. It was dead silent.

"I mean, then again, he managed to travel all over the world, coming across hundreds of trials and persevering through it…" They were walking together. Piers could feel that they were descending. Had they been descending deeper into the earth this whole time, or was this a sudden change in the direction of the cave?

"…all while trying to hold his group together and constantly feel the pain of betraying his friends, his family," continued Garet. Piers was beginning to wonder why Garet was determined to break silence.

"…You know."

Piers raised an eyebrow at Garet. His hands began to trace odder shapes in the wall. Were these crystals?

"It's usually hot in caves once you get real deep. Why is it so cold?"

Piers shrugged, even though he knew that Garet couldn't see him shrug.

"I'm-I'm talking a lot so that I'm distracted…" Suddenly, Garet stumbled and fell. He quickly rose.

"D-dammit, what the hell's going on with Jenna? Wh-why aren't we running? She screamed!" Garet was beginning to panic. Piers tried to collect himself. Panic now gripped him, too. Felix and Jenna were worse off than they, he assumed.

"Hey! Garet?" It was almost a whisper, but it was near.

"Jenna?" Piers and Garet replied in unison.

"Shh!" Jenna hissed. It was quiet again. Finally, Garet gave a muffled cry.

"Try not to make noise!" Jenna's hiss came from almost next to Piers. He jumped.

"Well, all of a sudden, in the dark, y-you—" Garet stammered, but Jenna interrupted:

"I put my hand on your mouth so you wouldn't holler! We have to be quiet!"

There was a pause. Something pulled Piers' arm further into the cave.

"Come on," whispered Jenna, "and be as quiet as you can."

"Why?" asked Garet from behind Piers, "are there enemies?"

"…Why isn't your torch lit?" inquired Jenna. Garet quietly explained things to her as they moved on. Jenna explained that after running into a few monsters in the dark, she quietly began to head back to meet with Piers and Garet.

"I didn't want to run into more without some help. Plus, you guys must have been wondering where I was," she finished.

There was little more talk as the three headed further into the cave. Piers told the others that he heard what sounded like…birds, or maybe bats further in the cave. Jenna and Garet agreed that they heard it, too. Piers prepared to Cast. Suddenly, Jenna cried out, and Piers heard something in the dark, attacking Jenna. There was a burst of light, briefly illuminating the room, and the smoldering remains of what had once been a bat slowly fluttered to the ground. Garet was about to say something, but scarcely got a word out as more bats flew at them.

"Glacier!" Piers roared, not certain if he was aiming properly.

The cave seemed evencooler. Piers wondered if he'd succeeded in temporarily freezing the undead bats. Suddenly, there was a small series of explosions. Piers ducked to avoid the flying shards of ice and flesh. There was a flash as many fireballs flew into the same spot at once. Terrible shrieks filled the air.

Piers stood.

"We're fine," said Jenna, "Let's keep going."

It seemed to be an eternity of walking blindly through the cave, occasionally fighting off rotting bats and snakes. The occasional light from Mars Psynergy revealed the partially buried remains of things assumed previously defeated by Felix. So that was why they hadn't run into as many monsters as expected.

After a while, the three began to hear strange noises from deeper into the cave. They wondered if Felix was near, fighting his way into the cave. Jenna fumed that she was going to drag him out of the cave before the four of them were killed.

It seemed as though they had been descending into darkness forever, the noises from far off growing stronger, until finally, they were extremely close. Howls, screams, and roars echoed.

"We must be entering a chamber!" exclaimed Garet. The pulling was even stronger now. Piers felt as though he was being magnetically pulled towards something…something at the other end of this chamber. It was at the other end of the great noise in the chamber.

Jenna ran forward. Piers thought she was fully submitting to the pull at first, but then he thought hen heard Jenna stop.

"FELIX!" she cried.

Garet and Piers ran to her at once. There was an unfriendly noise from nearby. Piers aimed an Ice Missile at whatever it was. Piers listened to the roars and clashing noises coming generally from the center of the room.

"We must be in the middle of a fight!" Piers exclaimed.

"What are we going to do?" asked Garet.

Jenna sent up a Dragon Fume.

"FELIX! WE'RE OVER HERE!"

"No," hissed Piers, "You'll-"

Suddenly, several things slammed into Piers. He felt sharp objects penetrate his flesh. He heard Jenna and Garet cry out.

"Diamond Dust!" he cried, and several of his attackers were flung away.

Whatever was still on Piers was still doing all in its power to harm him. It squirmed into him, grinding his flesh. Desperately, he reached for his sword and blindly stabbed at it. He felt the blade make contact, but then hit himself. Did he stab through it? Where was the flesh?

Suddenly, there was light.

"Piers!"

He quickly looked over, his sword still stupidly cutting his side. Fire Djinn had stormed into the chamber; each glowed a warm orange like the setting sun. Mercury Djinn followed and leapt to Piers' aid. Piers took advantage of the illumination and looked down at his attacker, pinned by the blade, to see the skeletal form of a fish. Surprised, he released his sword and sent the skeleton flying. One of his Djinn chased after it.

"Need healing, Piers?" asked one of them. Piers shook his head.

"What brought you all here?" he asked.

"Lady Sheba and Masters Ivan and Nathaniel!" replied a Jupiter Djinni.

"Look at Felix go!" another Djinni shouted.

Piers drew his sword and charged into the crowd of skeletons, lunging and slashing his way through. He smelled bones being burnt; the Mars Adepts and Djinn must have been making quick work of disabling them. The light from the Mars Djinn made moving around much easier; Piers wasn't worried about tripping on something. His only concern now was working through the crowd of re-animated fish skeletons.

Finally, he reached a clearing, of sorts. Venus Djinn had made a sort of circle and fought off everything outside of their ring. In the center of their circle, Piers saw Felix fighting five skeletons at once. He looked battered, but ferocious. His brown eyes glittered with a bold killer instinct. His mouth was curled into a snarl. He moved with great agility and used great strength, his arms and impeccable footwork moving with great precision and force. Piers was in awe; he'd forgotten how much of a master the Venus Adept was with a sword. The difficulty was that the skeletons refused to stop moving, no matter how broken they were.

Felix was panting heavily now. By the light of the Mars Djinn, Piers saw that Felix's face was drenched with sweat and his own blood. The Slayer let out an almost inhuman grunt and charged forward. With a single swipe of his sword, the skeletons were in pieces on the ground. The shards of bone were still twitching. Piers frowned. They needed to be burned.

He was about to turn around to ask for assistance when several bones slammed into him, knocking him backwards. He lost grip of his sword. Piers felt the wind get knocked out of him; countless bones were throwing themselves at him, pounding into him. It was too much force; he couldn't rise. Piers felt sharp pains from his left ankle and right wrist; he wondered if they were broken. Blood spattered from his nose.  
There was a bright flash from above him and there were several explosions. He felt the stomping cease, but before he could fully stand, several more skeletons began to attack him. Piers heard Sheba over the noise, but he couldn't understand what she was saying. There was a flash followed by some explosions again.

Piers rose quickly this time, but fell over again; his ankle was really hurt. He quickly gripped his ankle and cast Ply, which mostly healed it, and rose again. He cast Ply on his wrist; it also sped up the healing process.

"Where's your sword?" called Sheba. Piers looked around, casting some Psynergy to fend off some more attacks.

Sheba ran through the crowd to his side.

"I-" Piers began, and then he saw a glint reflecting the Mars Djinn's light. Sheba saw it, too. While Piers fended off some attacks with his Psynergy again, she pulled out a small black book, flipped through the pages, and began to read aloud. Each word sounded like the thudding of an axe on a foe. It was the queer language of the Kibombo. Sheba's blue aura swirled, and Piers watched her cast Dire Inferno into the crowd, freeing some room to grab Piers' sword. Once the explosions ceased, Piers dove for the sword. Then, he remembered Felix.

"Go help Felix!" he cried to Sheba, who nodded. Piers pointed to the circle of Venus Djinn and Sheba raced to it.

Piers whirled around to see several skeletons of Calamar crawling towards him. He made a single right slash with his blade, causing the monsters to topple over.

"Hey, Hey Piers! Let me help you!"

A Mars Djinni ran to his side and incinerated them. There was a loud _boom_ and Piers looked over to his right to see several towers of burning magma. He watched in admiration of Garet's Pyroclasm and almost got burned by a Searing Beam Jenna was directing through the battlefield. Countless skeletons fell over. Piers could now look over to see the Mars Adepts side-by-side, burning as many skeletons as possible with assistance from some Djinn. Nathaniel was using a borrowed wooden staff to whack leftover skeletons. He incinerated them with Oil Drops.

Ivan was the farthest from everyone, hacking away at the edge of the crowd trying to get to Felix and Sheba. On occasion the Jupiter Adept drew the Mystery Card and cast Fiery Juggle. Piers couldn't see Felix and Sheba; they were surrounded by too many skeletons.

"Come on, let's go make some space for Sheba and Felix to breathe," said the Mars Djinni beside Piers, charging into the skeletons.

"Right, Cannon." Piers was beginning to feel fatigued. The pull coming from Piers' left, across the chamber was beginning to feel very seductive.  
"Fugue," corrected the Djiini. Fugue gleefully blasted several fire attacks into the crowd. Piers watched him, feeling out of it. The Lemurian looked across the chamber to see if he could detect the source of the pulling. He squinted. By the light of the Mars Djinn and Adepts' attacks, he saw a strange structure. Ornate steps with crumbled railings led to a flat level with a great gap where doors had once been. Pillars held up the roof. Piers suddenly realized that it looked a lot like the temple in Dahlia. He then realized how large this chamber of the cave was. It was quite wide, and rather tall for a cavern deep underground.

"Most peculiar…" he said to himself.

It wasn't long before the Adepts and the Djinn had finally burned every last bone of the scourge in the cavern. Everyone was fatigued, so Piers invited them to sit on the steps on the structure.

As a Mercury Djinn Casted healing Psynergies on Jenna, she looked up, her sweaty, scraped, and dirty face illuminated by the orange glow of her Djinn. Sheba and Ivan, some of their hair singed and still smoldering, looked up, too. Piers knew that they were gazing at the structure.

"It looks like the sanctum in Dahlia, doesn't it?" asked Sheba, wiping some sweat from her pale brow. Jenna nodded.

"That force…it must be coming from in here," said Felix from beside Piers, his voice husky. There was silence. The Adepts looked at each other. The pull wasn't a wind, yet now it was beginning to feel like they were sitting in the middle of a sort of wind tunnel, similar to when one walks in between two high cliffs on a sort of windy day.

"The smell's really bad, too," said Nathaniel quietly. Garet and Jenna chuckled.

"That's almost an understatement," said Ivan, who quickly Casted a few Whirlwinds to freshen the air a bit. It helped a little.

"Colder, too," said Sheba, hugging a nice, warm Mars Djinni to her chest. It made a noise almost like a purr and nuzzled her a little. Piers was almost certain he heard a Mars Djinni cough and make a rude remark. Piers and Sheba laughed.

"Should we head back?" asked Garet.

"Are you sure whatever's in this temple thing will let you?" asked Sheba.

"We've already come so far," said Ivan, "Right, Felix?"

Piers looked to Felix to see that the Slayer was in a deep sleep. A strand of his jet black hair slowly lifted itself and fell in time with Felix's slow, deep breaths. Mercury Djinn were still working to completely heal him. Piers frowned.

"We should let him be for a while. He's really exerted himself," he said.

"We're getting kind of tired, aren't we?" asked Jenna, attempting to stifle a yawn.

"We should take this opportunity to sleep," agreed Piers, "Because I've a feeling that we're in for a lot of unpleasantness once we go inside. We'll need a lot of energy."

"I'll keep watch," said Nathaniel quietly, "In case anything happens."

The others agreed, and laid down carefully on the hard stone. Pier's yellow eyes met Nathaniel's. He thought about how the boy was slowly becoming more mature. He gave him an approving nod. Nathaniel looked like he was trying very hard not to seem thrilled with himself. Piers looked over the others, thinking about how very young they were, at least to his own people, and yet how they had grown above their years in many ways. Piers smiled to himself, appreciative of each of his allies and friends. He carefully set his head down on the stone, his long, blue hair kissing the cold stone and rolling over the stair like a soft waterfall, and embraced sleep.

Nathaniel sat, hunched over on the stair, head head between his legs. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to clear his mind. His soul felt around the area for water, but didn't find any. Did he really need any sea water? Piers and his friends didn't need their element to be near when they Casted. Why should he?

_Well, I'm not like them. I'm different,_ he thought. It was something he'd almost known for a while. He was a Mercury Adept, but the wrong kind. He couldn't Cast with any sort of water other than sea water. This was unheard of. Piers had always told him during their training that it was a block on his Psynergy invented by the mind, and needed to unlocked in order for Nathaniel to reach his full potential. Nathaniel had always wondered if perhaps Piers was wrong. He was with the sea, he knew it. Yet, Poseidon was with the sea, and Lemurian legends told of Poseidon using his powers on land, away from the sea. _Though, he is a god, and I'm just an Adept._

Nathaniel let himself be lost and continued to breathe deeply and concentrate. He concentrated harder and harder. His brow furrowed and sweat began to drip from his face. This went on forever until he whispered:

"Foam."

He out stretched his hand and continued to concentrate. He squinted by the light of the Mars Djinn. In the orange glow, he saw froths of sea foam beginning to develop. He breathed more, and concentrated so hard that his eyes were streaming with tears. The foam grew and grew. When it was big enough for a proper attack, he readied himself to complete the Cast. His mind was only focused on his task.

_The reflected lights glimmered through the water. A rushing sound poured through his ears. All around him was a swirling, purple glow. He looked around him to see submerged buildings. A light was coming from a ways off. If he could just keep Casting, propelling himself through the water, he could reach it…._

_Everything was shaking. He broke his focus and slammed into the coral. He was losing consciousness…_

"No…" said Nathaniel weakly to himself. He broke his intense concentration and the sea foam disappeared, the Psynergy not fully Cast. He stomped his foot in frustration.

_"Moistos!"_ he cursed in Lemurian.

"Awww…" said a chorus of squeaky voices. Wiping sweat from his face, Nathaniel looked to his left to see that all of the Djinn had been intently watching him.

"Good try!" squealed one. Nathaniel turned the other way, a little embarrassed. He rubbed his head; it was hurting from all of the effort he had put in. Suddenly, he felt immensely proud—he'd managed to Cast by conjuring his element! He'd broken the block, at least for a moment. He set his head back on the stair carefully, looking up. He'd somehow managed to dig up what must have been a memory. What was it?

IOE: Sorry! Wanted to do more, but I really just wanted to get a chapter out there without it being SUPER long. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please keep reading and I LOVE the reviews, even if they aren't ego-strokers. Also…we might not see Isaac and Kiri in the next chapter. I want to get this chunk of the Weyard adventure out of the way.

Feizhi: Nathaniel's…kinda hot.

Flotsam: You should make him a ring, too!

IOE: Thank you very much, everyone! Till next time!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter x10

Impediments

IOE: Hello, everyone! Ergh, though! I keep trying to make lines in my story, and they don't show up. Why is that? It makes my writing seem even worse! For this chapter, I'll put (there's a line here) where there are lines…. Fehize, thanks for the review! I've been trying to put more detail into the story, so I'm glad that it paid off a bit! Dream Adept, thanks so much for the review as well! I'm so glad you remembered my story enough to check for it! HOLY CRAP I want a DS so I can play Golden Sun DS! If people get in the way of me playing that game, I'll curse their names forever and include them in this fanfic as punishment!

Feizhi: (sweatdrop) I made Nathaniel a golden ring….

Flotsam: Let's go to the pool today!! Disclaimer: Ignira of Esperon does not own Golden Sun. Those people who do are very lucky, in her opinion.

IOE: With great video games comes great responsibility! Enjoy this chapter!

(there's a line here)

Felix's eyes blinked open. At first, he'd forgotten where he was. The smell met his nose, and he remembered. Gingerly, he sat up, not wishing to aggravate the muscles he'd exhausted on his way down the tunnel. He could already feel the aches all over. Part of him wanted to go back to sleep, but sleep couldn't help his muscles now. He looked around. It was very, very dark. He was swallowed by shadow. He assumed that the Mars Djinn must've fallen asleep.

"Is anyone awake?" he asked softly.

Nathaniel answered him. Felix told Nathaniel to get some rest, that he, Felix, would take watch. Nathaniel refused, saying that he wasn't very tired.

"Should we wake the others?" asked Nathaniel. Felix could detect the hidden eagerness for some action. He half-smiled.

"Have we all been asleep for that long?" he asked. Nathaniel estimated that it had been hours. Felix doubted what the boy said about not being tired.

"Very well," he said, sighing. He felt his way along the cold stone and felt around until he was certain he'd found a sleeping Adept. He gently nudged the sleeping form.

"Aaron, stop it," muttered Garet.

"It's Felix," the Venus Adept replied, "We ought to get moving."

Garet stirred and slowly awoke. He yawned, making a sound similar to that of a bear, and sat up.

"How long have we been out?" he asked.

Felix heard his sister stir.

"Mmm…are we getting up now?" she asked, and yawned. Felix heard her move around and nudge someone.

"Sheba, it's time to get up. Let's leave Piers and Ivan here and see how long it takes for them to find us," she said mischievously.

"Nnn…" replied Sheba.

"You've all been asleep for a while. We should probably get going now," said Nathaniel.

The room started to glow orange as the Mars Djinn began illuminating themselves. Sheba sat up, rubbing her eyes and winced at the light.

"Get going where?" she asked. Jenna put a hand on the Jupiter Adept's shoulder.

"Sheba, dear, do you remember where you are?" she asked.

Felix asked some Djinn to scout the area for any foes.

Nathaniel approached Piers and reached out to awaken him, but the Lemurian rose on his own and sighed.

"I've been thinking," he said. Felix listened. He stretched a little, which he regretted to some degree because his entire body was in awful pain.

"We're in a bad situation here. We have limited supplies such as our more effective armor, cut off from the outside by a long, winding tunnel that may still have some reanimates in it, and the others don't know where we are and may need assistance," said Piers.

Felix nodded. He was right.

"We may need to get supplies and tell the others where we are, but we ought to find out what's happening in this cave," he said.

Sheba shook her head.

"It's probably just some horrible monster, per usual when we encounter a cave with supernatural events associated with it. Considering that this cave is dangerous and what Piers just assessed, we should go back, and have Felix make this place cave in, even though we've come so far. Even so, we could end up in a grave predicament. For instance, Sheba and I left our Djinn on the ship," said Ivan, who had apparently been listening quietly for some time. He seemed unperturbed that no one had attempted to wake him. Sheba nodded in agreement with Ivan. Felix knew they had a point, but he was reluctant to just up and leave.

"I'm inclined to agree with the Jupiter Adepts," said Piers, "but we don't know if a cave-in will solve anything because we don't know what we're up against. We should get our armor, tell Hamma and the others where we are, come back, and investigate."

"I agree," said Felix. He ran and battled all the way down to this point. It made sense to him to continue from here and see things through. The other Adepts agreed as well.

"Nathaniel," said Piers, "go with Garet and Sheba to meet with the others and get some equipment from the ship, and stay with Hamma and the others incase they need assistance."

Nathaniel's expression reminded Felix of the expression Jenna would sometimes get when she was too short to climb up to the tree houses he, Garet, and Isaac used to build. A younger sibling's forlorn look.

As Nathaniel, Sheba, and Garet started off with some Mars Djinn to light the way, Felix realized the Djinn he'd sent to scout for enemies had not returned. He voiced this concern to Piers. Jenna overheard.

"Should we call for them, or look for them?" she asked.

"We don't want to attract attention," replied Felix.

"What could have happened?" wondered Piers aloud.

(there's a line here, too)

As Isaac and Kiri boarded the boat, he felt uneasy.

"Kiri, this isn't going to be terribly out of the way, is it? This shouldn't side-track us from reaching the Uranus shrine," said Isaac.

Kiri shook her head.

"No, we just have to take a ferry in order to get across this river. It's that time of year when storms get frequent, and I don't want to walk all the way to a bridge that might be under water. 'Sides, the shrine's located across the river, too," she replied. Isaac was relieved.

He gazed around him. It seemed like everything reminded him of Weyard now. It occurred to him that Erutun and Weyard had so many queer similarities, if they could be called similarities, that made each world seem like a parody of the other. Why was this so? Did it have anything to do with why the Wise One had no power here? What was it that Isaac had to figure out for himself the reason he was here? Then again, considering their previous encounters, to fail to explain everything clearly was the modus operandi of the Wise One. He sighed.

The ferry was roughly the size of the one Isaac had boarded on the Karagol. Around it now was sparkling, blue water that was clear enough for him to see below the surface. It was gorgeous. On either side of the river was lush forestland, almost the opposite of the arid region Isaac and Kiri had traveled through for several days. The sky had a fair amount of clouds, but wasn't overcast. Everything felt comfortably warm.

Isaac felt a tugging on his shirt. He looked down to see Kiri.

"Guess who's here, too," she said, and gestured with her head. Isaac looked in the general direction she was indicating to see a tall man, whose back was to him, with long, dark blue hair. It was the lascivious Neptune Proficient Isaac and Kiri had encountered several days earlier. He wore an elegant, black robe that reached just below the heeled, shiny boots Isaac could see…Ethan, was it?...was wearing. The clothes were obviously not that of a poor traveler.

"Why is he here? Did the Love Shack cave in?" asked Kiri. Hearing young Kiri ask that, Isaac was tempted to chuckle.

"I don't know, but I'd rather avoid him," he said, and then a thought occurred to him.

"Kiri, if this area floods a lot this time of year, and the scale is buried, what if it's been moved by the water?" he asked. Kiri didn't have time to answer, because as soon as Isaac closed his mouth, something struck the boat. It rocked violently. All gasped. People swore. Kiri cried out. She and Isaac instinctively reached out for the rail. The side that Isaac and Kiri were on lurched towards the water. Isaac grabbed both the Uranus Proficient and the rail tightly. The boat then slowly fell back to its normal position.

"Did we hit something, or did something hit us?" asked Kiri, regaining some breath. Isaac, used to this sort of thing occurring during his travels, headed towards the side of the boat that had been struck. As he did so, he heard Kiri say:

"A storm? But it was clear just a moment ago."

Fearing the worst, Isaac peered into the water, expecting a hideous monster to look back at him. The water that had been clear but a moment ago was now murky. Rain was starting to fall, and so the surface rippled and splashed. For a moment, he thought he couldn't see into the water, but then he noticed a lot of movement below the surface. He knew his eyes weren't tricking him; there was something moving. The whole boat was now being pushed by something, but not forcefully enough to tip the boat. People hollered. Isaac squinted at the water, and then he saw a pair of eyes glint. They were the size of a man's eyes.

Rain was now pouring and pouring. The sky was black as pitch, and Isaac could hear thunder. The pair of eyes was not gazing at Isaac, but at something further to his left. He looked. Ethan was gazing at the eyes in fascination. His mouth was slightly open, and his eyes were wide. His dark locks of hair, along with his robes, were soaked. His long, pale, dainty fingers poked out of lace-ended sleeves. They gripped the rail so tightly that his knuckles were pale.

Isaac, alarmed, looked back at where the eyes were. He could now see a beautiful woman treading the water. Isaac immediately noticed that she was naked, other than what looked like a necklace with a single charm around her neck. Her thick, green hair was soaked, and floated in the water. Her skin was fair, and she was gazing at Ethan with the some look of awe and fascination that was on the Neptune Proficient's face. Isaac wondered what the Hell was going on. The woman suddenly noticed that her clothes were gone, shrieked, and let herself sink into the water. Her head was just enough above the water so that she could still gaze upon Ethan, but then it fell below the surface as the water became rough. The woman fought to reach the surface again. She gargled a scream as it became harder and harder to stay afloat. Her hands splashed at the water hysterically, trying in vain to stay above the surface. Her eyes were wide with horror. Was something pulling her?

_She'll drown!_ thought Isaac, who immediately set to removing his scabbard and pack in order to dive in and save her. Before all of his equipment was removed, however, there was a splash. Ethan had dived in first. Isaac watched for the Neptune Proficient to resurface, but he didn't. The boat was still being pushed by whatever was under the water. Isaac wiped some of the rain from his face and squinted into the water, looking for a sign of the woman or the Proficient. Had he waited too long? What if they both were being attacked or something by whatever was pushing the boat? The Venus Adept could definitely see that something was still moving. Isaac stripped the rest of his equipment off, tucked a dagger into his belt just in case, stood on the rail, and dove. Just before he penetrated the surface of the water, he had a feeling of utmost dread. Somehow, he knew this was a trap. Everything became darker as Isaac splashed head-first below the surface.

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(line again)

There was a horrible scream. Alarmed, Felix recognized Sheba's voice. He and a Mars Djinni immediately ran for the other side of the chamber. Jenna and the others, along with three Djinn, followed. Felix felt it difficult to run at this pace; the temple's invisible pull was now physically keeping him from escaping it easily. The farther away he got, the more sluggish he felt.

"Sheba!" he cried. Behind him he heard Piers call for Nathaniel and Jenna halt to call for Garet.

"We're coming!" called Felix desperately. It was now like running into a slingshot. It was harder and harder to fight against the pull. It felt like if the Venus Adept stopped, he'd be flung backwards across the chamber. He made it to the long, dark tunnel. He huffed and strained. The strain was not welcomed by his already aching muscles. Suddenly, Sheba, Nathaniel, and Garet came running down the tunnel towards him. Felix halted and grabbed a wall.

"Felix!" yelled Garet. When they were close enough, they halted.

"Are you alright?" Felix asked them. They all looked sweaty and alert, but none of them seemed injured. The Djinn Felix had sent earlier as scouts trailed behind them.

"We're fine," said Sheba.

"But I heard you scream," said Felix.

"We can't leave the cavern," said Nathaniel.

Piers and some Djinn managed to catch up as Nathaniel spoke.

"What? Why?" he asked.

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(line-age)

Isaac was propelled into the river. He let himself go as far as his momentum would allow, but he was bumping into things he could not see. There was a flash of lightning from far away. It provided light, but also fears of electrocution. By the light, Isaac could make out what he was bumping into. He wanted to yell in surprise. Under the water, swimming around and pushing the boat, were women. Or at least, they had the torsos of nude women. From the hip down were whirling, muscular tails that propelled them around. Isaac could see now that he was close enough they had slits for nostrils that protruded from a bump on their face, so it seemed like a nose. Several of their dark eyes glinted at him. Purple auras whirled around them every now and then. They were Casting, but Isaac didn't know what sort of Psynergy.

A handful saw him, and rushed towards him, arms outstretched. They had long, webbed, clawed hands. Isaac gurgled out a "stone spire". The women screeched, and swam away, but he didn't know where. Isaac quickly propelled himself to the surface to get air while they were surprised. His head breached the surface eventually and he gulped air. He swallowed some rain and coughed. Isaac struggled to stay afloat long enough to regain himself and submerge again. He gasped, but then something pulled him below. He pulled out his dagger and opened his eyes to see two furious women holding both of his legs. They were remarkably strong. He slashed at them, and managed to make some severe enough gashes for them to let go. They screeched in agony. Blood seeped into the water. The monsters swam away, licking their wounds with tiny cat-like tongues. Isaac wondered if they were going to the same place the other monsters he'd wounded retreated to.

Isaac looked around to see if more were coming. By the occasional illumination of Psynergetic light or lightning bolt, Isaac estimated that there were fifteen creatures pushing the boat, a handful of which were either swimming away because he'd wounded them or had noticed him and were very angry. All of them were women. Isaac knew he couldn't keep resurfacing; it made him vulnerable. Where was Ethan? The woman must have been one of these monsters. Was Isaac too late? He squinted. Far off, he saw a human form being dragged away by one of the monsters, just as four monsters charged at him. Their long hair whipped with the current, and their lips, which Isaac now noticed were quite fishlike, were curled into snarls that revealed long, sharp teeth. He wounded them with a Grand Gaia, tucked his dagger back into his belt, and then rushed to get air from the surface. As soon as his head was above the water and in the rain, he gasped for breath, and then swam across the surface to where he estimated Ethan would be.

_Please don't be dead_ he thought. He thought he heard Kiri, but she sounded too far off. Isaac hoped she didn't follow him in the water; it'd be too dangerous for her and it was hard enough trying to protect himself and trying to rescue Ethan.

He was a short swimming distance from the boat now. Isaac took a breath and went below the surface and peered around. It was dark, and he was starting to feel very cold. He saw nothing. He started to curse in his head. Why the Hell was he here, anyway? He could get struck by lightning trying to save someone that was probably already dead, when he ought to be saving the ferry from the women. He was about to turn around, when

He was about to turn around when he saw a purple, swirling aura. Isaac nearly jumped to the surface and swam after it from there, for it was just below the surface. He could see now that there was a small…island, if it could be called that, which barely breached the water's surface. It was only large enough for about five people to stand on. Something crawled onto it, Isaac could see, and was dragging something heavy. Isaac's first thought was to scramble for it, but then decided to swim as quietly as he could, and sneak up on the woman. Isaac carefully made his way to the island. The woman's back was to him, he was sure. Isaac would sneak up on her and stab her in the back with his dagger. Suddenly, there was a horrible sucking and coughing noise. Isaac thought it was the woman struggling to breathe above water, but she seemed to be breathing fine. He recalled that when she was gazing at Ethan, perhaps enchanting him, she seemed to have no trouble breathing. A purple aura whirled around her, and Isaac heard Ethan gasping for air. Isaac was confused, but continued swimming. The woman's aura swirled again, and Ethan was silent. Isaac was now slightly over arm's reach from the woman's back. This was the most crucial part. He treaded, so that he could reach into his belt….

But the woman felt the ripples and whirled around. Isaac was face to face with her; beautiful black, round eyes gazed into his. Isaac saw that she was beautiful in her own way that resembled a human woman, but was ugly by women's standards. She looked surprised and frightened. Isaac knew he'd waste time trying to reach for his dagger to stab her, so he called out:

"Odde--" But the woman launched herself at him. She was quicker than her kin. She fell on him, and there was a big splash as they went below, into the dark water. Isaac was choking; he had been completely surprised and forgot to take a deep breath. He felt an incredible, searing, burning amount of pain in his shoulder, and, despite the fact that he was underwater and had little air, screamed in surprise and agony. The woman had bit into him, and was letting her teeth sink into the flesh. He felt a little tongue lap up the blood. He was in an incredibly strong grip, and felt them sinking deeper into the depths. Isaac's view was obscured by her long, thick, seaweed-like hair. He couldn't breathe, only coke on the water that was coursing into him, filled with some hair, mud, and his own blood. He struggled to free his arms, but the woman had him in a good grip that kept his arms at her back. They were descending. He was drowning and bleeding. She was feasting on his shoulder. Isaac wondered if he would pass out before she managed to dislodge his arm. Everything was dark.

He knew he had to move quickly or he was dead. He would never see the surface again, never see Weyard again. He kicked and kicked, but all his kicking really did was make them turn, instead of go anywhere. He could feel her claws digging into his back, her tail flicking to keep them in a descending direction, but mostly just letting gravity do that for her. Isaac knew now how Felix felt that day when the storm hit Vale, what it was like to feel hopeless and weak, and watching the surface get farther and farther away. Now, he, too, knew what it was like to drown.

And what happened next, Isaac never knew whether it was a hallucination or a vision. He felt that parts of it might have been real, but others were just imagination.

_It was an out-of-body experience. He was floating in the water, watching himself die. His arms were dangling from behind the monster's pale back. There was blood everywhere. Isaac could see that he was conscious, but he'd given up fighting. All he could do was gasp at the water, gulp in an attempt to breathe. Isaac could only watch himself drown. He was aware of flashing lights. Red, purple, blue, and yellow. Suddenly, sinisterly, the drowning Isaac's head turned sharply, and looked directly at him. "No," it said. And he bumped his head straight into the monster's head, startling her, and sending her top half back a bit. Pieces of his shoulder that were in her mouth flew with her. Isaac freed his hand in a split second, and his blue aura swirled. Her shoved dagger straight into the woman, up and into her torso, and lifted them both up and out of the water with a force. Isaac didn't recognize the Psynergy. The woman roared an inhuman roar of agony and surprise, a hideous sound. Isaac swam up to watch in amazement. The three of them reached the surface. The colored lights followed. The other Isaac launched himself and the monster onto the island. He coughed and wheezed. He'd freed himself and somehow made it to the surface, but he still couldn't breathe. Isaac felt everything growing dark. He was starting to feel faint. Before everything went black, he looked to the flashing lights. They weren't following him. They were inside him._

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The group was sitting on the steps to the temple once again.

"The Djinn were trying to reopen the tunnel. They didn't come back because they thought they could do it," said Garet.

"I saw a wall of burned bones and things like that all of a sudden, so I screamed," said Sheba.

Jenna was flicking dust off of her boots.

"So, all of the skeletons and zombies that we burned and stuff made themselves into a wall? That's so creepy," she shuddered.

"And there are boulders and stuff, too," added Sheba.

"Not quite as creepy," replied Jenna.

"We have no choice. We can't leave. We have to follow the force that's pulling us inside this temple," said Felix. All nodded. Everyone was more anxious than before now.

"How long ago d'you think the tunnel was blocked? Do you think something was listening to us when we were talking about leaving?" asked Garet.

Ivan shook his blonde head. Felix noticed how the orange glow of the Mars Djinn made Ivan look like he had red hair. He looked like an older Aaron.

"If I were trying to kill a bunch of Adepts, I'd wait for the smaller group we were supposed to send to get supplies to leave, and then block the tunnel, so I have fewer Adepts to deal with," he said.

"Why was it so hard this time to get farther away from the temple? We could barely make it to the other side of this chamber," Jenna thought aloud.

"Maybe whatever's causing all this is getting stronger," offered Sheba. Felix shook his head. That didn't make sense, considering they'd killed a bunch of the source's reanimated corpses.

"Whatever the case," he said, "We need to finish this. Let's follow this pulling."

They all stood. Felix's heart was beating very fast. He unsheathed his sword. He was filled with dread and excitement. He and some Mars Djinn entered the temple first. Felix glanced around the room, blade drawn. Nothing approached. He motioned for the group to follow. The stink inside was worse than it had ever been. Inside, the temple was no bigger than the first floor of an inn. It looked like a more or less ornate version of the Sol Sanctums Felix worshipped at in each town. It was a one room temple with various tables, a tabernacle, an altar, and various ornaments, all of which were thrown about or smashed. Some of the damages looked recent, but other tipped-over tables, for example, had cobwebs on them. It was evidence of a very old struggle, the likes of which were unknown. Felix sheathed his sword and inspected a table that was broken in five or six places, then walked around.

"What could have happ--" Sheba's sentence halted. Felix turned from a wall to look at her. She looked confused. Her brow furrowed.

"What is it?" asked Ivan.

"I can't cast Reveal," she replied. The Jupiter Adept stretched out a hand. Nothing happened. Her aura didn't even appear. Felix thought he saw something on her arm.

"Sheba, your wrist," he said.

Alarmed, Sheba held her palm to her face to inspect her wrist. Little inspection was necessary, as there was a purple, rune tattoo the size of a fist on her wrist. Shocked, she held up her other arm, which had the same tattoo.

"My Psynergy's been Sealed!" she exclaimed in horror.

Everyone immediately checked their wrists for the same tattoos, but no one reported the same condition.

"How could this have happened?" Sheba said in disbelief, looking from her left wrist to her right wrist.

"Oh no, Sheba," said Ivan, "our Djinn aren't here. You can only use your staff."

Sheba's metal staff was strapped to her back. She reached behind her to stroke the runes carved into it. Felix worried how long she'd last in battle without Djinn or Psynergy to protect her.

"Well, I can't stay up here. It's more dangerous for me to be up here alone than to go with you all," she said.

"Go…where? This temple's built into the rock, and there're no other doors," said Nathaniel.

A look crossed Ivan's face. He gave an apologetic look to Sheba before saying "Reveal". Felix was relieved to see Ivan's blue aura swirl. The Jupiter Adept's eyes widened. He walked a few paces forward and stopped, bending down to look at something.

"There's a trapdoor," he said. He got on his knees and pushed a moldy, holed carpet out of the way. There was a little slot in the floor. He slid his fingers in and pushed upward with some strain. The stone lifted some.

"Garet, help me with this," he said. The Mars Adept approached and lifted the door open. A rancid, putrid odor seeped out. Both boys coughed. Ivan looked at his hand.

"What? I'm Sealed!" he exclaimed.

"But you just Casted…could the trapdoor have something to do with it?" asked Jenna. Alarmed, Garet held both of his hands up to his face immediately, and as a result lost his balance a little. Felix didn't see any tattoos.

"No," said Garet, "I can Cast."

"There's writing on this!" said Piers, leaning towards the flipped stone. Everyone looked. Runes were carved into the stone. Felix only recognized one symbol at first, which was the Psynergetic seal rune. Then he saw another that was familiar, one that he knew he'd seen recently, but could not for the breath in him recall what it meant. He pointed it out to his sister.

"Yeah, hey…," she said, brow furrowed, as she focused on it, "That was on the robes of one of those creeps who-who attacked Isaac!" They all heard her voice crescendo. Felix remembered now. That symbol that looked like a cross between a 'P' and an 'L' was printed on the robes of the man with the glasses.

"And there's the symbol of Jupiter," said Ivan, pointing at what looked like a number four.

Garet looked at the group.

"Anybody know any other symbols? No? Then we don't know what it says, I guess," he said.

Nathaniel turned to a Mars Djinni.

"Can you look and see if there's a ladder or something?" he asked, gesturing to the trapdoor. The Djinni hopped over and peered down. He shook his head.

"I see some stuff that you could stack up down there, though, if you'd need to get out," he offered.

"Would we get hurt if we jumped down there?" asked Jenna.

The Djinni peered down the hole.

"No," it squeaked, "The drop's taller than a man with his arms raised, but not much taller than that. It should be OK to jump."

Felix pictured the fall in his mind. He approached the trapdoor. It was a square, almost perfectly carved out of the stone, the height and width of a doorway, maybe a little larger. Everyone ought to fit, he estimated, if they held their equipment close to them. The stink wafting out of it was almost indescribably awful. Was it possible to be killed by a stench?

He unhooked his scabbard and held it to his breast. He took a deep breath, and jumped through. His knees bent when they met the floor, absorbing the shock. He could barely see; his shadow obstructed some of the light from the Mars Djinn above. Felix managed to keep his balance and not fall. He straightened up and immediately unsheathed his sword and glanced around. He could see little. He listened carefully. There was a horrible sound of deep breathing. It didn't come from a particular direction, but rather, it felt like the room itself was sighing. Felix's hair stood on end. He could feel the cold air go back and forth evenly, as though the room was slumbering, unaware of his presence.

"Felix! Are you OK?" called Jenna. Her head blocked out some more light.

"Fine!" he called back. Jenna warned him she was coming down. Felix stood aside, being cautious about his footing.

His little sister dropped down, her skirt flying up. He looked away. Felix was glad he was the only one down, otherwise he wasn't sure how he'd handle his elder brother instinct. She landed clumsily and banged her knees. She lifted her head and looked around.

"Woo," she said, and rose, brushing off her knees and straightening her skirt. Felix gestured for her to come. to him, and then they called for Sheba to come down next.

The Jupiter Adept left down, staff in hand. Felix looked away for a moment, and then looked again to see Sheba land with such grace he was surprised she didn't use Psynergy.

Eventually, all dropped down. The Djinn followed. Orange illuminated the small, cramped room. The room glittered.

Felix gaped. The room was walled with, floored with gold and gems. Like the room above, this was filled with ornaments, tables, altars, and ornaments, and was quite trashed from some sort of struggle. The symbol Jenna had identified was carved into the walls.

"What the Hell?" said Garet.

"Hey, look at that! Djinn, light that up!" said Sheba, pointing across the room. Felix looked. A short distance away was a leering shadow. The Djinn approached, but nothing lit. They looked at each other confused. This defied nature. Felix was alarmed.

"Come back, guys," he said, and then realized: "That's what we've been looking for." The pull, he realized, was gone. They were where they needed to be.

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(liney!)

Time was a relentless force. Time was all it really knew anymore. It was very old. It was ancient. That was all. It no longer remembered its name. Did it ever have one? It didn't even remember _what_ it was. A ghost? A God? It had power. It had a consciousness. It had a presence. It had no body, no name, no identity. It was restless, but it would not leave this place…what was it? Things that wandered in called it a "temple", which meant a place of holy worship in their language. That felt like a clue. It's faint inkling of a need for vengeance had something to do with it.

A time ago, so long ago, this had been a secret, sacred place for the Rich One. It didn't know what that was anymore. Perhaps _it_ was the Rich One. This had to be hidden so that something could be safe. Was that something an item, or a being? It had to be safe from…what? Not something natural…it had something to do with the beast called Man. This room, this secret temple, was the real temple. It had been lavish once. It was bigger than the decoy above. It had since been raided. The gilded walls and floor, along with the carvings, were all that remained. At this thought, if it could be called that, it felt an echo of what one might call pity…or maybe remorse.

It had been…not quite dormant, but less of itself for the longest time. It probably would have decayed into nothing eventually had not something happened one day. It never knew what it was, but whatever it was, a part of it felt rejuvenated. It was too old now to ever return to whatever it used to be, but it could survive now, and it was more awake than it had been in a very, very long time. It's spirit stretched all the way across this arid land, but no further than that. It had never meant to, but all of the animals were suffocated by it, and became part of it, too. Men could withstand it somehow, but wouldn't last especially long without a special man. A special being that could not be harmed by its presence like the others.

By no means was the supernatural man immortal; there were other means by which to take their life. It was much more challenging to kill those types of men, but it was worth it. Their life energy would help restore parts of it. Pursuit of comfort, or some minor form of fulfillment was all that drove it now. It did not know if it could ever truly die, and so it was much better to try and find a purpose. Now, it was consumed by the pursuit of these extraordinary men. It must have as many of them as possible.

And now, what felt like seven of them entered the true temple. It could sense their immense power. They intrigued it. Power like this would be hard to obtain indeed, but it didn't matter. There was ample time. Death was not known to be an option. It was probably too old to feel pain anymore. They saw it. It wondered what it looked like. It must have some sort of appearance, as they were all now looking at it.

They attacked. It was ready. The burnt remains had served as a wall. The bodies of Adepts served as ammunition. As several appendages and an arm flew at them, the warriors recoiled in disgust. One of the females screamed. The Adepts had not completely rotted yet. Even the oldest corpses were not completely skeletons yet.

They unleashed their magical attacks. These didn't hurt, but it could feel weakness. These men were more powerful than any Adepts it had ever encountered. Their powers were strong, but not enough, even in numbers. Three stood behind, watching hopelessly. Two were Sealed, and the other, the youngest, for whatever reason, would not attack. They all watched, with their weapons uselessly at their sides. It wondered if it lacked a physical appearance, and so they refused to physically attack.

It unleashed its own attacks. The room became intensely hot, and the temperature climbed and climbed. It let its essence enwrap them, slowing them down and poisoning them. It would do more, but it needed to save energy, in case their attacks wore it out. It knew their attacks made it steadily weaker.

After the shortest amount of time, the two Sealed were downed. It took longer to down others, but it managed to take down another two. Two men fell eventually. The youth had been protected by one of the fallen. He now stood, his arms outstretched, his sweaty face heavenward. He breathed heavily. The other two, a male and a female, continued to battle. They were drenched in sweat and covered with blood, some of which was their own, some of which was left over from the dead Adepts it had been using as weapons. The woman was using her powers to heal the three of them, and then attack. It found her healing abilities inconvenient, and so halted its heating of the room to use that energy to take her down. It launched a toxic piece of itself at her. She tried to dodge, but it followed, and consumed her. She began to suffocate. She choked something, and then fell on top of a corpse. The remaining fighter roared and launched a dozen attacks on it.

It was feeling so weak now…this group was so strong; they had obviously seen many battles. It just had to eliminate these remaining two and they would all be dead soon…

And suddenly, its mind was clouded, foggy. It didn't understand what was going on. What was doing this? It was confused, sluggish, almost immobile. How much power could possibly be left in such a man? It didn't know how long it could last like this. With one last launch of an Adept's half-rotted skull, it had wasted all. It didn't know what was happening now, but it felt like what its victims had experienced. It was certain this was what it was like to die. It didn't know what would happen afterward, or if anything _would_ happen, but it was unconcerned. It was too ancient.

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(line-ary!)

Felix fell to the ground, exhausted. The room was making short, shallow breaths now. The shadow was dying, he knew, and just in time.

"N-Nathaniel," he said in a hoarse whisper, "y-you…"

He tasted sweat and blood. He watched the boy's feet approach him. Felix was impressed with the boy. His abilities were amazing. If Piers could have seen him….

"Felix, you have to get up. We have to get everyone out of here," he said.

Felix wanted so badly to tap out. He was so close….

He reached over and put a palm on his sister's face. Her eyes were closed. Her forehead was unusually warm. Her face was very damp. She was breathing, however.

"P-potent Cure…" he whispered, and felt the last of his energy drain into her. His hand fell, and he closed his eyes.

Before he was gone, he heard her stir, and somehow, he knew everything would be okay.

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(lah-lah-lah-line!)

IOE: And that's the chapter! Long, no? Did you like it? Geez, everyone's fighting monsters. Excited for the next one? I hope so!

Feizhi: I didn't get what just happened.

Flotsam: (is happily playing in the water, splashing around, squirting water) Please review!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter turned up to 11

Progress

IOE: Hey, everyone! Welcome to chapter 11! I wonder if anyone's still reading this…? It's frustratingly become a kind of summer-only kind of thing…sorry. DreamAdept, thank you so much for remembering this fic again! I'm so glad you liked the new chapter. bente-unerz, thank you for taking an interest in my fic! Wait…love square? I don't remember adding another pairing…. Fehize, you're right, these are slightly based off of Sirens (I did some internet research)…in fact, I wanted to call them Sirens, but they don't sing and it makes me sad. You're enthusiasm for my story makes me feel sooo good! :D

Feizhi: You're 16 years old, and you can't write a good fic.

IOE: I'm 16 years old, and every day something happens to me.

Feizhi: Please don't sing that song.

IOE: So, I speculate that the boy who looks like Garet on the DS promo art is a descendant of Flameshipping. He looks like Garet, but his hair is Jenna. My thoughts. Anyway, I don't really have a plan for this chapter, so I hope it goes OK.

Flotsam: Disclaimer: Ignira of Esperon, the author of this fanfiction, does not own Golden Sun or the Fantasticks, which is her favorite musical. She's very, very happy that there will be a third one she could waste her time on, if only she could afford a DS. But she just bought a 360, and a DS would be for only one game, not all the new Halos she wants to play.

IOE/Feizhi: SHUT UP!

Flotsam: And Feizhi…guess what I was singing last chapter! "I'm on a boat!" This author doesn't own that, either!

IOE: On with the damned fic!

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Isaac dreamt of Mars Lighthouse before he was awoken by an amazing amount of aching, burning, and stinging pain from his muscles and his shoulder in particular.

_He dreamed about journeying with Felix's group for the first time, about watching Karst and Agatio die, and about almost killing his own father in order to save the world. After carrying his father down from the lighthouse, he could swear he saw the remains of a Warp for an instant. Suddenly, he was in Vale. In horror, Isaac turned to Mount Aleph. Alex stood at the top, bathed in a golden light. Isaac didn't know what else to do; he ran as fast as he could towards the mountain. Perhaps if he hurried… _

And then he woke up and gasped. The pain hit him in full force, and he almost cried out, so terrible it was. After some moments of absorbing the pain and attempting to get used to it, he looked around. He was lying shirtless on a bed with white sheets. The room was circularly shaped and small. The walls and ceiling were made of wood. Beside him, sunlight came in through a window. He could hear birds chirping. The window's white curtains blew in the breeze, which felt good on Isaac's face. There was a closed door to Isaac's right. From the other side of it were city noises and chatter. At the foot of the bed was a table, on which various bandages and potions were placed. He wondered how he got here and how bad his wounds were. Bandages were placed here and there on his chest. His shoulder was wrapped in bandages. The pain radiating from it was incredible. Isaac reached over and cast Potent Cure on it. It felt a little better.

He put his head back and stared at the ceiling. He sighed. Apparently, he'd managed to survive the she-monster in the river and hadn't drowned. He remembered his vision, hallucination, whatever it was, of watching another Isaac suddenly free himself and manage to make it to the little island where Ethan was. Isaac wondered if Ethan had saved him. He looked out the window and watching tittering birds fly in and out of a tree. He wondered how long he'd been out.

After some time of thinking and staring at whatever he could see without raising his head, he heard footsteps. Isaac turned his head. The door opened, and in stepped Kiri with a tray of food. Her big, shiny eyes met his and she opened her mouth in happy surprise.

"Kiri."

"Isaac!" she shouted, and set down the tray and ran to hug him. Isaac winced, but before he could tell her to let go, she removed herself. The Uranus Proficient beamed at him.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asked.

"A day or two. You were in pretty bad shape when we brought you in. I…wasn't sure you were gonna make it," she said, and her smile vanished.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Not well, but I'll be okay with some more rest and healing, I think," he replied.

"Is there anything I can do for you right now? Want me to get a Healer?" she asked. Isaac shook his head.

"I can heal myself," he said, "but I'm pretty hungry. What's on that tray?" He pointed to the one Kiri had set down. She fetched it and set it on Isaac's lap. He gingerly sat up.

"It's seasoned fish from the river and some water. It was supposed to be mine, but you can have it. I'll get my own lunch. Oh, and I have to tell everyone you woke up!" she said, and hurried out of the room. Isaac was left alone with his fish. He grabbed his knife and fork and attacked his lunch. He finished it quickly enough to achieve Garet's admiration. It was delicious. Isaac gulped down the water and licked his lips. He was still hungry.

He heard voices get close to the door and it opened again. Kiri reentered with another tray, and a brunette in a white dress draped with bead and charms followed. Kiri made her way around the bed and sat on it, careful to avoid sitting on Isaac's legs. The woman approached him and looked him over.

"I'm Penette, a Healer," she said with a smile. Isaac guessed she was in her mid-thirties. He felt a little awkward, being shirtless, but wasn't a stranger to things like this. He recalled waking up in a similar fashion after Colosso, and Mia, though blushing furiously, examining his wounds. He remembered blushing furiously, too, but not necessarily feeling uncomfortable. He pushed the thought from his mind; it made him miss her and home too much.

"I'm going to remove your bandages and take a look at how you're healing," said Penette, and removed the tray from Isaac's lap and set it on the floor. She instructed him to lie down, which he did. Most of the wounds on his chest were healed, so Penette didn't bother reapplying the bandages. She gently removed the bandages on his shoulder. Isaac grimaced. It felt like parts of his shoulder were missing. He prayed this wasn't so. Fresh pain shot from his shoulder in hot, angry waves. Once the bandages were gone, Isaac could see a hideous wound on his shoulder. It was livid purple and red, and stretched from his collar bone all the way across his shoulder. It was long, ugly, and the middle was round and wide, larger than his hand. It was definitely going to leave a scar.

"We had to remove the monster's teeth from the wound before we could start to heal it," Penette explained, "So it's bigger than it was, though it was pretty big to begin with. That monster really did a number on you, you know; you're lucky your shoulder's still attached. Skin, tendons and muscles were pretty torn."

"And there was a lot of blood," added Kiri, who looked a little nauseous. Isaac, feeling just as sick as Kiri looked, whished that they would stop describing how gruesome his injury was.

Isaac heard someone enter the room. He looked up to see Ethan stride in and stand beside Penette. Once Penette noticed his entrance, she seemed to hope that if she worked quicker and quietly, she might not be noticed. She pulled a white and purple flower Isaac had never seen before out from her pocket.

"Mend," she whispered quickly, her purple aura swirled, and passed the flower over Isaac's wound. Golden sparks issued from the flower, like magical pollen. The pain lessened some more, and the wound seemed a little less purple. She put away the flower and quietly told him to turn over on his stomach. Isaac began to carefully turn over, so as to avoid as much pain as possible, but she pushed him. _What the Hell? _he thought as he groaned into his pillow and she began to remove another bandage. A horrible monster in his shoulder was stomping about.

"Careful," said Kiri.

"Penette, let me help you," said Ethan, giving her a smoldering look. This only seemed to distress her.

"No!" she squeaked, tore off the rest of the bandages, said Isaac ought to be fine with some more rest, and quickly scampered out of the room. Kiri began to help Isaac turn over, but he waved her off, and gingerly, slowly, managed to turn over. He rubbed the aching muscles in his chest and winced. The monster was joyfully stomping about the inside of his shoulder, slowly sinking its teeth into his tissue. Kiri set down her tray on the floor.

"Ethan, you scared Penette. Now it'll take even longer for Isaac to heal," she scolded. Ethan ignored her. He looked serious, and, Isaac was pleased to see, guilty.

"What happened?" Isaac asked.

"I woke up and saw you lying unconscious with the Oceanid dead beside you. I saw that you didn't have much time and called for help," he replied.

"I'd been Floating around, looking for you, and I heard Ethan. I set down on the bow of the ferry, and Floated you guys and got you on the ferry. Once you guys were on board, I Struck the river. The Oceanids were killed instantly by my lightning strike," Kiri said, beaming with triumph, "The storm left with them, and then I did what I could to push the ferry to shore with Psynergy as quickly as possible. Ethan and I rushed you here, and we fetched a Healer, a Saturn Adept."

"Those monsters are called Oceanids?" Isaac asked. They both nodded.

"They breed during this time of year. They send storms on ships, then push them to their breeding grounds, it is guessed, then sink the boat, and drink all of the passengers' blood and take their possessions," explained Ethan.

"She was going to drink my blood?" asked Isaac, horrified.

"She was in the middle of it. And she was going to drink my blood above the water so as not to waste a drop or attract the others. You see, she didn't want me just because I'm a handsome man," said Ethan, and Isaac resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Ethan's narcissism, "but because my blood is very precious. I'm the descendent of Ilzero, one of the most powerful Proficients and rulers Erutun has ever seen. You saved me, Isaac."

"So to repay you, Ethan's going to travel with us. I told him about what happened to you and about how we need to collect bleesed items from each of the sacred shrines in order to send you back home. So, you just rest for a few more days, you know, make some more blood, and we'll get on our way to finding that scale the kid told me about, and then on to Uranus Lighthouse," said Kiri.

Isaac remembered now about the scale. He nodded. Ethan looked thoughtful. He pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to Kiri.

"The Oceanid was wearing this. It gives off Psynergy. I wonder if it's what you're looking for," he said. Kiri held it up.

"Oh," said Kiri, "It's a necklace with some fish scales inside a vial strung on…it could be."

Isaac felt like an idiot; all this time, he'd thought Kiri meant weighing scales. He sighed and said nothing.

"When the Oceanid used it on me, I remember, I could breathe underwater," Ethan told him. Isaac recalled the Oceanid casting some Psynergy.

"Then that's the scale!" said Kiri excitedly. Ethan put the necklace on. Isaac felt a surge of relief that one obstacle was overcome; he'd had his doubts that they would find the scale.

"So, you'll help me reach the shrines and return to my world?" Isaac asked Ethan.

Ethan nodded. Isaac was surprised that the Neptune Proficient simply accepted this strange story. Feeling that all that needed to be said was said, Ilzero's descendent quickly pranced out.

"Penette, my darling!" he called.

Isaac and Kiri exchanged looks. Isaac's stomach growled again.

"I'll get you some more food. If you're going to eat like this for the next few days, I hope the cook won't mind," she said, and beamed at him again. The little Uranus Proficient picked up the trays and, as she left the room, Isaac thought that while he missed his home and his companions terribly, he was glad he wasn't so alone in this strange world.

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"Master Hamma, I'm drained," said Mia. She wiped sweat from her brow and listened to the student's breathing. His chest was cold. His breathing was a little labored, but he would be okay.

The Mercury Adept looked to the Lama temple's master. She was surrounded by several Mercury Djinn and a Jupiter Djinni (Mia guessed it was Breath). The woman's sweaty, tear-streaked face was illuminated by the orange glow of the candlelight. Parts of her purple hair clung to her face. Her eyes had dark circles under them. Mia imagined that she herself probably looked the same; they'd been up all night. Mia felt deep sympathy for Hamma; she must've felt so much guilt for what had happened. The students had been fading in and out at first, but with all of the healing they were doing all night, their conditions were stable with a fair amount of improvement. Mia imagined that every time it seemed like the students needed more help or they got sicker, Hamma was stung with more guilt and remorse. The way the woman looked now was so worn, so weary and filled with self-hatred, such a contrast to the normally cool expression on Hamma's gentle, serene face that it was sad enough just to look at her.

Master Hamma seemed not to have heard Mia say that she was drained of Psynergy, or, perhaps in this state, didn't want to hear her. She was bent over, so focused on the students before her, so defiant to death yet so exhausted, that it seemed she didn't want to hear it. Mia decided not to repeat herself.

"I'm going to get some blankets. They seem cold," she said, and stood up. Master Hamma said nothing. Mia stretched. It felt like she'd been bent over for a year. Her muscles ached. She yawned as she ascended the ladder. She was exhausted. She reached the top and walked around in the dark. She was certain the blankets were on the west wall…how could she have forgotten to bring a candle? She could hear the soft pitter-patter of her delicate footsteps on the hardwood floor. It creaked in some places. After some feeling around on the wall, Mia was certain she was fondling some blankets. She yawned again and walked back to the trapdoor, feeling with her bare feet on the cold floor until she was certain she'd found it. The Imilian got down and carefully climbed down the ladder with the blankets in one arm, which was more difficult than she thought it would be. Her heavy Imilian robes were a bit of an impediment.

When she reached the bottom of the ladder, she carefully headed to the closest student, lying on a mat on the floor. All of them had fallen asleep hours ago. The Mercury Adept set down a blanket on him and spread it out evenly. She stroked his face with her soft, pale hand, and moved on to the next student, the one she'd been healing before she was tapped. After him, she approached Hamma with the remaining blanket. The Jupiter Adept was watching Breath heal the sleeping student. Mia heard her sniffled a little. Mia waited for Breath to finish, and then laid the blanket on the student.

"Thank you, Mia," said Master Hamma in a hoarse whisper. It broke Mia's heart when her eyes met those watery, sad, violet eyes.

There were footsteps from above. Mia nearly jumped in surprise. If it wasn't Felix and the rest, it was bad news, considering Mia's Psynergy was drained. She felt herself and Hamma getting tense.

"Sister? Mia?" Ivan's voice called. Both women breathed a sigh of relief.

"Down here, Ivan!" Mia called back. She heard things being set down and unbuckled upstairs. They must've been setting down their equipment and weapons. One by one, the rest of the group clambered down the ladder. They all looked exhausted. They sat down quietly, so as not to wake the sleeping students.

"What happened?" Mia asked. Felix was holding his sister in a gentle, elder brother sort of way. Garet sat beside them, head tilted back (was he sleeping?). Piers had taken over for Hamma, who sat against a wall with her concerned brother, who brushed some hair out of his sister's face. Nathaniel, looking very pleased with himself, was playing with something in his hand. Sheba was asleep, curled in a ball on the floor, Breath hugged to her chest. The sight of the little Jupiter Adept was endearing.

They told her and Hamma about what they'd found in the cave and the battle. Mia was horrified by what they described about the fight; she'd seen many things that were chilling in her travels, but she'd never had rotting limbs thrown at her. It almost made her sick to think of it. She was mystified by the secret sanctum or temple they described.

"I'd been feeling while I was down there a lot more…I don't know…aware, more connected," recounted Nathaniel, "And I didn't know how much longer either I or Felix was going to last, so I concentrated…and I was able to Cast."

He looked like he was trying not to seem as overwhelmingly pleased with himself, but it was obvious to Mia how proud and pleased with himself the boy was.

Felix shook his head.

"I was so surprised. If it hadn't been for Nathaniel," he told Mia quietly, "we might not have won. I've never seen Psynergy like Nathaniel used. It's nothing like the Mercury Psynergies I've seen Piers, you, or Alex use."

Nathaniel seemed now to be half proud, half shy. He stared at his feet.

"Way to go, Nathaniel," said Garet, who apparently hadn't been sleeping, and tousled the boy's blue hair. Nathaniel smiled, but knocked Garet's hand away.

"So then I woke up, and Nathaniel and I managed to get Piers up, and he used Cure Poison and Ply while Spark, Tinder, and Quartz Revived, and eventually, we were all in better shape," said Jenna.

"We then searched for anything valuable. The place looked like it'd been sacked before it was abandoned, so we didn't expect much. All we found was this, hidden behind a secret panel," said Nathaniel, and he held up what he'd been playing with. It was a solid gold little tree branch, a little golden glimmer in the boy's hand. Mia frowned and cocked her head.

"It has Psynergetic power, like the Burst brooch or the Teleport Lapis gives off, but none of us can use it. It doesn't make any sense," said Ivan. Nathaniel pocketed it.

"Are we keeping it?" asked Mia. Felix nodded.

"Yeah. You never know," said Jenna sleepily, repositioning herself in her elder brother's arms. She rested her auburn head on his shoulder.

"Then Jenna and I burned all of the corpses. It was really the best we could do for them because we couldn't risk this happening again if we…reassembled them and gave them a proper burial. Then, we headed back to the entrance of the cave, Felix made it cave in, and we made our way back here," finished Garet.

"Well, this whole time, we've been working on the students. They're doing better, but they aren't healthy yet," sighed Mia. She suddenly felt the brunt of her fatigue, and almost nodded off right there.

"Are we…sleeping down here…?" she said sleepily. Her eyelids felt heavy as lead. Mia remembered she usually had her own room when she was only traveling with Isaac, Garet, and Ivan. Once Sheba and Jenna came along, there was sharing, which never bothered Mia. Gender separation was ignored, however, in certain circumstances, such as exhaustion. Mia was also too tired to change into a nightgown at the moment. She considered that it was way off on the ship, anyway.

"Most of us should sleep upstairs," said Nathaniel, and he got up and climbed the ladder. Mia was reluctant to rise, but she followed him up the ladder. The Mars Adepts and Felix followed them.

The rest of the Djinn had been waiting upstairs. The Mars Djinn provided light. Nathaniel grabbed a bunch of blankets and tossed them around. Mia made little effort to set hers up like a mattress, lay down on her blanket, and closed her blue eyes. She fell into a peaceful sleep instantly.

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Mia's eyes fluttered open. It took her a moment to remember where she was. The Mercury Adept was tired, but she knew that if she tried, she would not fall back asleep. She turned over on her other side to see if anyone else was awake. All the other Adepts upstairs with her were still fast asleep on their blankets on the floor. Most of the Djinn had turned into their smaller, orb-like forms, but the few Djinn that had stayed in their typical forms, possible to be ready in case something entered the temple while everyone was asleep, were making sweet little tittering noises in their sleep. Garet and Jenna were snoring loudly. Nathaniel's face was the only one visible to her.

She gazed at his young face, in such a peaceful expression it was. His eyes were gently closed, his breathing slightly lowering and raising a little strand of silver and blue hair. Mia thought about the mysteries surrounding Nathaniel. She wondered where he came from. Mia thought she'd been all over the world, but Piers had been, too, and he didn't recognize Nathaniel's denomination of Mercury Psynergy. She sighed, and quietly got up so as not to disturb anyone.

Mia tiptoed out the door or the temple. She took in the temple's outdoors. The surrounding mountains looked majestic and handsome in the morning light. Estimating by the amount of sunlight, she guessed it was mid-morning. The rays of sunshine twinkled on the pond nearby. Mia deeply inhaled the fresh morning air and began to take a stroll, but then she heard Felix softly call to her. She turned to him. He stood at the door to the temple. His hair was mussed and he looked exhausted and, she suspected because he might have had a bad sleep, slightly disgruntled.

"Yes?" she answered quietly, hoping she didn't wake anyone inside. Jenna and Garet were heavy sleepers, she knew, but Nathaniel might not have been.

Felix approached her. His clothes were torn in many places, and very wrinkly. He was holding his Sol Blade. Traces of bad odor clung to him. Mia wondered if his scent was partially the cause of his grumpy demeanor.

"I'm going to hunt breakfast. We were low on food on the ship anyway, and we all need our strength after yesterday," he told her. Mia nodded.

"I'll kindle a fire," she said, and smiled. Felix nodded and walked off.

After collecting some twigs and branches from nearby trees, and gently waking a Mars Djinn and asking for its assistance, Mia had a lovely fire going. She considered that Hamma and her students were vegetarians, and so set about picking edible berries from the trees and shrubs nearby that she could find and placing them in a bowl she'd found in the temple. Once Mia was certain she'd picked enough, she set the bowl down and rested in the grass. It was getting hot now, and she was aware that her clothes probably smelled some. She wished that she could head back to the ship and get her clothes, but she didn't want to alarm Felix should he return without her waiting. After some time, she decided to take a little stroll like she'd planned earlier. Mia followed the path of the mountains surrounding Lama temple for a little while, and then turned back. She returned to find Jenna and Garet lying together in the tall grass by the fire. Jenna sat up and looked at Mia. She waved.

"I assume Felix is hunting?" she asked. Mia smiled and nodded.

"Thank Mars. I'm absolutely starving," said Garet, "even though I just ate a ton of berries."

Alarmed, Mia looked over at the bowl of berries she'd prepared. The berries she'd picked were all gone. There were tongue streaks in the leftover juices. She almost wanted to cry. Jenna seemed to put together what had happened, and smacked Garet.

"You asshole, you ate them all!" she scolded him. Garet made a sad face.

"Gee, I'm sorry, Mia," he said sheepishly.

"Please don't fight," said the Mercury Adept gently, "I'll just see if I can pick some more before Hamma wakes up."

"I'll help you!" declared Jenna, and she quickly tried to get up, but fell on Garet. They both laughed, and Mia chuckled a little. Jenna rose and pulled up Garet, and then she sent him back in the temple to fetch another bowl.

"Once we fill the bowl again, we'll take it down the trapdoor for Hamma and her students to eat," said Mia, and she sighed, "but the students need more attention. We ought to bring them with us to Kalay and see if we can't get better meals for them to restore their strength properly." Jenna nodded.

As Mia led Jenna to where she'd been picking earlier, she saw Jenna glance at the tongue stains on the bowl and giggle to herself.

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After breakfast, it was decided that Ivan, Hamma, and Mia would teleport ahead to Kalay with the students and Ivan would make appropriate arrangements for them. He, Mia, and Hamma would stay in Kalay because Mia was the most experienced healer out of all of them, and Ivan wished to keep his sister company as she watched her students' health.

"Besides," said Mia, "I'm sure you can figure out what happened to Isaac without us."

"But please bring news to us as soon as possible if you get any," Ivan added.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group would press on in the search to find the Order of Olympus.

Once they all headed to the ship, everyone boarded, save for Ivan, Hamma, Mia, Teleport Lapis in hand, and the students, who were laid carefully on the ground below the ship. The Adepts on the deck of the ship waved farewell as a multicolored swirl of lights engulfed the smaller party on the ground, and then disappeared.

The remaining Adepts then spent the rest of the day making their way to the appropriate river route to Kalay. Eventually, they left the boat on a river bank not too far off and started on foot for the merchant city in the distance. The Djinn remained on the ship, whining that they had to stay onboard. The party ignored them. Garet and Jenna complained of hunger, and, because it was midday, thirst. They were given the same amount of attention as the Djinn.

"Couldn't we have gotten a little closer to the city before we got off?" asked Garet. Jenna, not following the rest of the group's policy, replied:

"We might attract unwanted attention. We want to get all the information we can as quickly as possible, without people bothering us or the ship."

"I have pointy hair that stands a foot over my head," snorted Garet, "And I'm one of the most normal-looking people in our group. How much more attention could we possibly attract? Townspeople are always gonna gawk at us." Jenna shrugged, smiling, but Felix did not look amused. No one remarked.

After some time of walking and thinking, Jenna wondered aloud to no one in particular:

"Do you think Isaac's ok?"

She hoped no one could detect that her voice was shaking a little.

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Kalay was a flourishing city whose borders had expanded since Felix had last visited. Stone buildings and merchant stands stretched a fair distance in every direction. Pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages crowded the cobbled streets, and shouts of vendors and various merry conversations filled the air. There were exotic food stands, artists, fortunetellers, musicians, silk sellers, tattooists, outfitters, blacksmiths, and bards. Many of the sellers and performers incorporated Psynergy into their work. Sheba and Jenna watched an old woman who was selling exotic cacti use Grow on barren pots to make plants erupt from them. There was color, merriment, and art everywhere. This made it difficult for the party to catch any glimpses of Ivan, Hamma, or Mia. In order to avoid the crowds, Felix expected that Ivan and them had teleported into Hammet's castle. Not knowing where the castle was, Felix felt lost, and so Garet, who had had a more thorough exploration of Kalay the list time he was there, led the way.

"Look at all these people using Psynergy! Is this because of the Golden Sun? And what's with all these shops and stands? Is there some sort of festival going on?" asked Garet, sniffing at a nearby stand that seemed to only sell seasoned rolls. The bearded cook, who seemed to have a singed beard because he was using Mars Psynergy to heat his rolls, gave him a hopeful look. Jenna asked him if today was a holiday. The tall, lanky, black-haired man shook his head, and offered her some of his rolls. Garet bought the two of them some and ate the steaming rolls appreciatively as the group continued down the streets.

Eventually, they made it to the front steps of Hammet's palace. It was three stories high and constructed in a geometric architectural pattern. The gray stones it was built of glimmered in the sunlight. At the top of each tower was a golden onion dome shape. Geometric patterns adorned with jewels bordered the large, oval-shaped, glass windows. It was a magnificent sight.

"Wow. Business must be booming. This was a nice mansion before, but now…" said Garet in awe. Two turbaned guards at the large, golden doors ordered them to halt and state their business. When Garet explained, they remembered his face and allowed the group to enter, but eyed their weapons. Felix, who didn't wish to depart with his Sol Blade, was grateful that the guards did not ask them to remove their arms.

Inside, the polished wood floor was furbished with handsome red carpets. Tapestries with bold colors and intricate patterns, along with vividly colored oil paintings and portraits decorated the halls.

"This stuff wasn't here last time, either," said Garet, admiring a Gondowan landscape painting.

Felix heard footsteps on the stairs and looked to the stairs to his right to see Mia emerging from upstairs.

"Oh! Hamma and Ivan said you were here! Follow me," she said, and they ascended the staircase to the next floor, followed the corridor, and then entered a large room with a wide window and three beds in it. There were piles of food set on tables. The people in the room seemed to have been waiting for visitors, because they looked not at all surprised when Felix and his companions entered the room. Beside the nearest bed stood Hamma, Ivan, a bearded Healer, and two turbaned guards beside a regal-looking, beautiful woman with fair skin and blazing red hair. Felix guessed by her expensive-looking, purple, embroidered dress and the way that she carried herself that she was the queen, and, by the fact that her belly protruded from her, bulbous in comparison with her otherwise slender figure, that she was quite pregnant. Each of the students had their own bed, and was dozing beneath the white sheets.

"Lady Layana, you're pregnant!" exclaimed Garet in pleasant surprise.

The red-haired woman smiled warmly, her crimson eyes glinting with pride. Felix, Garet, Sheba, and Piers wished her congratulations.

"Lady Layana," said Ivan, gesturing to Felix and his companions, "This is Felix, his sister Jenna, Sheba, Piers, Nathaniel, and you've already met Garet."

They all bowed or curtsied to the queen.

"Ivan and his friends were just explaining to me why you are here, and what happened at his sister's temple. Hammet is still rebuilding Vale. He has already sent word of what happened to Isaac. When I learned of it, I was shocked. I cannot say that such strange people have passed through this town, but we have so many merchants and people coming through each day, and I rarely venture out of the palace because there's so much work and responsibilities I have to take care of, and the pregnancy…. I'm sure that if you ask around, however, you might find people who have seen them, especially since plenty of the people here travel," said Layana.

"We should start asking around immediately," said Garet.

"I'm sorry we had to meet under these unhappy circumstances, Lady Layana," said Piers. She smiled.

"Waste no more time. You may go," she said. They bade farewell and left the Healer, Layana, her guards, Mia, Ivan, and Master Hamma behind.

Out in the open again, Sheba said:

"Alright, let's split up. Wait…you know what would be more helpful? Ivan and his sister's mindreading powers ought to help. I'll go fetch them."

She disappeared into the palace. Shortly after, she returned with Hamma and Ivan. It was decided that once the group had an idea of whether the cult had passed through, and if so, where they had gone, then Ivan and Hamma would stay behind in Kalay with the students. The group split up and spread out into different parts of the city.

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Ivan and Garet were roughly in the middle of Kalay, and speaking with every store and stand in their way, so long as the line of customers wasn't terribly long.

"Ivan, Kalay's so different from last time I was here! What happened?" asked Garet as they headed out of a shop where the owner, who had a thick accent that was hard for Garet to understand, had given them no useful information.

"Since the Golden Sun rose, there's been a burst of culture. It's especially noticeable in this part of the world because Kalay, as a merchant city, interacts with many different cities. Society has more purchasing power, a higher standard of living, newfound interest in art, science, and history…" replied Ivan, who trailed off as he considered which street they ought to take next. They veered left and headed towards the nearest stand, which was a silk saleswoman who looked like she was from Xian.

"Why?" asked Garet.

"Only guesswork," said Ivan, "But I can assume that because the reintroduction of Alchemy to the world reintroduced Psynergy to the general populace and allowed for the earth to regrow itself (like what we witnessed in Lalivero) that people started to wonder what was going on and those who had the resources did their research, which allowed them to reconnect with their much more cultured and vibrant past, you know, the time before Alchemy was sealed when civilization and culture flourished. So, now that Alchemy's been unsealed again and they are finally reunited with their past, civilization is picking up where it left off."

He sounded so much like Kraden that it was eerie. Garet asked the silk seller about the cult while Ivan read the minds of passersby. As they continued on, Garet burned with more questions for Ivan. After a few more stops that were unhelpful, he asked:

"But, it hasn't been that long since the Golden Sun rose. Wouldn't a process like the one you described take longer, like decades?"

Ivan thought a moment. He continued walking. As the crowd got thicker, it was harder to keep the short Jupiter Adept in eyesight. Garet wondered if, considering Sheba, shortness was a common factor in Jupiter Adepts so that they could be swifter, more agile, but then considered how tall Hamma was and how Feizhi was of average height, and discarded this theory.

"Well, recall the first time we visited Lemuria?" Ivan asked.

Garet nodded. They had been overjoyed to finally see Lemuria, but it hadn't been all that Garet had imagined it would be. The place felt like time was a crawling snail, and all was dull, boring, and lifeless. They had been careful not to say why they were there, thanks to Ivan's clever Mind Read that revealed Lemurian opinion of Babi, and explained to anyone who asked (which was everyone) that they were there looking for another group of Adepts that they knew had a Lemurian with them, which was partially the truth. Not only had they been treated with suspicion and rudeness by a fair number of townspeople because they were outsiders, including the Lemurian senate, but they discovered that the draught had run dry and the replacement, which had been underway for decades, was not yet ready for consumption. They pleaded with King Hydros for Babi's life, but he explained that recently, the senate had managed to gain more governmental power, and would never allow for the draught to be delivered to Babi once it was finished, which wouldn't be soon. The group couldn't have waited anyway; they had had to pursue Felix. They had to return to Tolbi to explain their failure. And, on top of it all, when they had finally returned to Tolbi, Babi had passed on. It had been too late.

"It was a disappointing first visit to Lemuria, to say the least," said Garet sadly.

"Lemuria was in the middle of a decline, wasn't it? The people were bored, no new buildings had been made for centuries, and there were only two children in the whole town," said Ivan.

"Right," said Garet, "But things seemed…better when we returned to get Piers so he could help us find Isaac. Less slow, less…dead." It was the only way to describe it.

"Right. The civilization's cobwebs, were, say, dusted away. Since Lemuria doesn't yet trade with the outside world, it couldn't have met with other cultures like Kalay does, but there was obviously more vitality. Somehow, I think the Golden Sun is responsible for this. It allows for culture to thrive, too, not just the earth. It rejuvenates all aspects of Weyard," said Ivan.

As they asked around a few more streets, Garet mulled over what Ivan had said.

"So…because Alchemy's back, more art is being created and stuff? More kids are being born, more people can use Psynergy?" asked Garet after some time, thinking he mostly understood Ivan's theory.

Ivan shrugged.

"Basically…yeah," he said.

"Cool," said Garet. Ivan shrugged again. Then, he lifted his head, as though he was trying to hear a sound from far off.

"Sheba's nearby," he said, "And she's managed to get some information."

"Finally," said Garet, stretching, "'cause we got goose egg investigating this part of town."

Ivan led him west. After some time, they reached the edge of town. They were by the Karagol Sea now. The docks were busy with crates, boats and people. It was a bigger setup than the one, small dock for the single ferry Garet remembered from before. Salty, sea air met his nostrils.

Sheba and Jenna were sitting on a fence facing east. They waved to Ivan and Garet as they arrived. Jenna lazily kicked out her legs and let her head loll back. Her auburn hair swept left and right, glimmering in the sunlight.

"What'd you guys find out?" he asked them. He tried to sit on the fence next to Jenna, but she chuckled and told him the fence might not be able to hold him.

"The cult's been through," reported Sheba.

"Oh?" Ivan asked. Sheba nodded.

"They used the ferry," Jenna said.

"They used it to get to Tolbi a few days ago, and they haven't been this way since, as far as I've learned. I checked everyone's minds, but this area's so busy…" said Sheba, biting her lip.

"So, we go to Tolbi next? Last time we were there, that city was the largest in Gondowan. It must be pretty big by now…we might not be able to find where they went from there," he said.

"Yup," said Jenna, "Or maybe they're from Tolbi."

She leaned very far back and kicked out her legs again. Worried that she would lose balance, Garet walked to the other side of the fence, just as Jenna started to wobble, and, just as she started to fall backwards, he caught her.

She was hardly heavy in his arms. She beamed up at him.

"Hey, my Hero!" she grinned. Reluctantly, he helped her regain her place on the fence, and started to walk away, but then he felt her hand on his arm, and froze. He turned to see her stretching out from the fence.

"Hey, ya get it? 'Cause you're a Hero? You know…like I'm a Justice? Yuk yuk yuk?" she asked, but then started to wobble dangerously again.

"Whoa!"

He swiftly grabbed her arm and put her back into place.

"Jenna, if you can't keep your balance, why don't you just stand up and save yourself the concussion?" giggled Sheba.

"No, I'll just stand behind her," Garet said quickly.

"Felix, Nathaniel, and Hamma are nearly here," said Ivan. They all looked east, but couldn't make out either Felix or Master Hamma, who were much taller than Nathaniel.

Garet's heart raced as Jenna gently repositioned herself and leaned against his chest. He looked down to see her head of shimmering, auburn hair. He could feel her weight on him, feel her head lift as she looked up at him. His heart was thumping so loudly, he wondered if she could hear it. She yawned and smiled lazily.

"Tiiiiredddd…" she said. He smiled back. Her stomach growled.

"And hungry, too, huh?" he asked. She nodded.

"Me, too," he said, and dared to rest his chin on top of her head.

"We should buy food. I haven't had anything since the rolls you got me. Thanks, by the way," she said, "They were good."

"We should've nicked some from that room in Layana's palace. Hmm," he said, and shifted his head to the right, inhaling Jenna's scent. Sheba caught his eye, and gave a roguish smirk. She knew. He was embarrassed, but too reluctant to move, so did nothing. He could feel his ears turning red when Sheba pointed.

"There they are!"

He stood upright, and Jenna's head left his chest. He immediately missed her weight on him.

"Fe-lix!" she sang out.

He didn't look from Jenna's head to Felix and Hamma until Jenna jumped off the fence and ran to her brother. He looked up to see Felix striding towards them, carrying several food items. Hamma and Nathaniel trailed behind him, smiling and eating.

"Thought you all would be hungry," he said, smiling warmly at his sister. Jenna snatched a bunch of steaming kabobs greedily and scampered back to Garet. Grinning, she handed him a handful and bit into four kabobs at once. He grinned back, and did the same, but they burned his tongue. Jenna, however, inhaled her kabobs in record time. Garet gazed at her in awe, but then her tongue fell out of her mouth.

"Haaahhhh…." she said, tongue smoking. Garet and Sheba giggled. Felix, who seemed to have been expecting this, immediately shoved his canteen into her empty hands. She guzzled down the water.

Once everyone finished eating, they thanked Felix.

"So, now we go to Tolbi," said Sheba, sighing.

Garet was about to complain. He made to exchange an exasperated look with Jenna, but her head was bowed.

"How much longer do you think this is gonna take?" she asked. Her voice broke. Instinctively, Garet put an arm around her shoulder, and she put her head on his shoulder. He felt he understood that she was letting Isaac's disappearance get to her. After he heard a sniffle, he gently guided her away from the group, who looked concerned. He gave them a reassuring look, and walked with Jenna along the fence. The sun was setting now. The Karagol reflected the setting sun's orange glow.

"I'm sorry, I just…we don't know what's happened to him, and we don't know where they are, and we don't even know," she said in an unusually high voice, "i-if _they_ even know what-what's happened to him. And…"

She was burying her face in his shoulder, and they stopped walking. He could feel her tears falling. Her breathing was shallow. He put his arms around her and held her.

"This had been bothering you for a while, hasn't it? You've been acting carefree, but deep down, you're worried outta you mind, right?" he asked her. She nodded and he heard a sob.

"Jenna," he said, not sure exactly what he was going to say, "I'm his best friend. You're his best friend, too. Ivan, and Mia, and Felix, and all them care about Isaac, too. That's why they're here. That's why they're trying to find out what's happened to him, where he is. We're all worried, and none of us know what's going on. But I swear, we're gonna find those bastards."

She was shaking. Her hands were balled into fists, holding onto his shirt, which felt very damp.

"I-I'm so sick of losing people…you know?" she sniffed. He held her even tighter.

"So, OK, I di-didn't…_lose_ Felix, or my parents…but I thought I did. There was a hole inside, you know, and then…then it was like they came back from the dead when we were all together again. And…and," she choked, "And now Isaac…and I-I don't know if I'll be so lucky this time. And to me, he's…I mean, he's…"

She trailed off. His hands wanted so badly to stroke her hair, her back, but they remained stiff. He wanted so badly to tell her so much, but it was the wrong time, and he couldn't lie to Jenna and say he was completely confident that Isaac was fine, wherever he was.

"Jenna," he finally said, "Isaac's seen and fought a lot. He's faced enemies more powerful than him and beaten 'em, he's looked death in the face countless times, but he's made it. Because like you, he's strong, brave, and he never gives up. Knowing Isaac, I think it'll take more than a couple of creeps to bring him down. So now, we've gotta find him, wherever he is, and get him back."

"How do you know?" she sobbed.

"I know Isaac. I've known him for a long time, I've fought with him, and I've traveled with him. That's all I need to know, and it has to be. He's alive, Jenna," he said softly, "We just gotta find him."

"Hmm," she said, and she stopped hanging onto his shirt, and wrapped her arms around him. After a moment, she said:

"You're my best friend, Garet. Thanks."

He squeezed her a little tighter.

"I know it's not easy," he said, and she let go. Her face was puffy, red, and wet with tears. Some damp strands of auburn hair stuck to her face. She smiled at him. She'd never looked so beautiful.

She sniffed and wiped her face. He wanted to stroke her face, too, but he didn't dare. She smacked herself.

"Ugh…emotional overload…I'm so sorry. Oh, Mars, and everyone saw me lose it, too," she said, laughing, "And I totally just soaked your shirt."

"Yeah," he laughed, "I'm a little chilly now."

"Sorry," she said again, sniffing and drying her eyes.

They walked back to the group. They all looked concerned, but didn't ask anything. Jenna made a beeline for Felix and hugged him. He gave Garet a thankful look, and then hugged his sister back.

"Ivan," said Master Hamma softly, "We didn't try this because you've never tried, but I think that, considering Isaac's been missing for days, we should try it. Jenna's right; we don't know how much time he has left."

"Try what?" Garet asked.

"While you and Jenna were gone, we discussed the possibility of scrying," replied Ivan.

"Well, the three of you guys are really experienced Jupiter Adepts, right? Why not do it?" asked Garet.

Sheba bit her lip.

"If we've never done it before, we might not be able to focus our energies and find him. We could just keep finding the wrong people," she said.

"And we could accidentally…kill the people we find. Scrying's tricky, and it's hard to be successful if you're not used to doing it. Sheba and I have never tried it before; we just know the theory. We could accidentally attack them if we don't keep our powers under control when we scry them," Ivan added.

"What if we don't scry Isaac? Why don't we scry the Order of Olympus?" piped up Sheba.

"It couldn't hurt if you guys kill them," Nathaniel said darkly.

"Ivan, you and Sheba are highly experienced and powerful Jupiter Adepts. While I doubt that we'll find the Order on the first few attempts, I'm sure you can control your powers, and I'm certain we'd be able to find them eventually with me guiding you," said Hamma.

Sheba looked to Ivan.

"Should we try it, then?" she asked him. He nodded. She jumped off of the fence and they both strode to Master Hamma.

"You should probably do it in a more private spot, where you'll attract less attention," Felix spoke up.

"Yes, and there are less distractions," agreed Hamma, "Let's leave Kalay and do it in the woods."

"The last ferry leaves soon. I hope we're successful in time," said Ivan, and the three Jupiter Adepts left.

"Should we follow them?" asked Piers.

"I'd kind of like to see what it's like to scry," said Nathaniel with interest.

"I don't know," said Jenna, "I wouldn't want to distract Sheba or make them feel pressured."

"You're right," sighed Nathaniel, and so they waited. Garet kept anxiously stealing glances at the docks; how soon would the last ferry leave? Felix, Nathaniel, and Piers went to buy tickets. Jenna and Garet were left to wait by the fence.

They were both very bored. Garet kicked loose stones across the road while they put their heads together to discuss all that they had heard about scrying and theorized what it would be like to scry.

Suddenly, Jenna hugged him tightly. His stomach lurched. He inhaled her scent and hugged her back.

"Thanks for earlier. I'd forgotten that I wasn't the only one here close to Isaac. It was…I dunno, selfish of me, I guess. And, you know, thanks for having fun with me this whole time. It's made this whole thing bearable and…kinda fun," she said.

He smiled, and was about to say something that he considered sweet in reply, when he spotted Sheba returning.

"Am I interrupting something?" Sheba asked, grinning deviously. Jenna pulled from Garet, smacked her, and hugged her.

"Find 'em?" she asked, and then pulled away. The Wind Sorceress nodded.

"Eventually. We kept picking up on the wrong stuff, like dung beetles (easily mistakable for those creeps, right?), but we got them in the end," the Jupiter Adept replied with a triumphant smile.

"Where're Hamma and Ivan?" asked Garet.

"They went back to the palace. I sent a telepathic message to the Djinn and told them to fetch the ship. Hope it goes smoothly, but it'll be pretty entertaining if it doesn't," she giggled.

Just then, Felix, Piers, and Nathaniel returned. Sheba repeated everything she'd just told Garet and Jenna.

"Sheba, was it wise to ask the Djinn to pilot my ship on their own for the first time over a highly populated city?" Piers asked crossly. Sheba pretended not to hear him.

"We should board the ferry now, or it'll leave without us," she said, and she and Jenna sprinted to the docks.

"We'd better go!" exclaimed Garet, and he followed them. Nathaniel raced ahead of them, tickets in hand, and stopped at the ferry. He handed Garet, Sheba, and Jenna their tickets.

They all boarded the ferry not a minute too soon. Shortly after they were all onboard, the ferry departed from the shore. The sun had almost completely set. Garet, Sheba, and Jenna stood at the dock, gazing at the water. He told them about the adventure he, Isaac, Ivan, and Mia had had on the Karagol last time he'd been on the ship, about the mutiny on board, the monsters, the Kraken, and Crossbone Isle.

"That sounds so cool," said Jenna enviously when he'd finished, "And much more eventful than when Saturos and Menardi took us."

"I'm jealous," said Sheba.

"Don't be," Garet laughed, "Half the time we were seasick because of all the crappy rowing below deck, and the other half of the time we were afraid that the monsters were going to sink the ship and drown us."

He turned to Sheba to ask her what it was like to scry, but she'd walked away. It was dark now. Jenna leaned over the side and looked westward. The sea air whipped her long, coppery hair about her beautiful face.

"Sheba says they're in Tolbi," she said over the roar of the wind and the waves. He held his breath as he reached for her hand. She let him hold it, and then hugged him again. He hugged her back, and whispered into her wild hair:

"He's close, Jenna. We'll find him."

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IOE: (stretches) OMG, that was a bitch and a half to write. This chapter simply took forever. And I'm not happy with the Flameshipping I wrote. My finger huuuuurts. Tell me whatcha think, guys!

Feizhi: (pouting) Nathaniel was barely in this chapter!

Flotsam: I'm on a boat!

IOE: Woman, I have like over eight characters to deal with. Cut me da slack. Thank you for reviewing last chapter and please keep reading! It make-a me feel happy! (dances) Consider checking out my other GS fics because I'm very proud of them, and continue to enjoy your summer! See ya laterses!


	12. Chapter 12

Chaptwer twelve

Tolbi and the Shrine at Last

IOE: Ugh, fine, conscience, you win, I'll write some more for this fic.

Conscience: You're only listening to me NOW because you want to rest after writing some more of chapter 5 of Break!

Feizhi: Who's this?

IOE: um, uh…A Nathaniel-hater!

Feizhi: SPARK PLASMA! (Conscience is fried to crisp)

IOE: Thanks. ZOMG now that I don't have a conscience, I can put off applying to colleges soz I can play Golden Sun: Dark Dawn! Anyway, Fehize: what you read was a horrifying error that was actually the notes I leave for myself so I can remember the plot and stuff. I'm glad you mentioned it; otherwise it would have been up way longer for the entire world to see. And Dream Adept, thank you for continuing to read this and I'm so pleased and, frankly, surprised that you were hooked! Breaking ground, you made me squeeee! Thank you so much! Well, anyway, before we begin this chapter, I think I should inform you that a character being described in this chapter honest-to-God isn't a Mary Sue. That said, she's going to be a lot of fun to write for because I thought I'd make things a little hairier. If ever I wrote a Mary Sue by the way, she would be an all-powerful writer who ruled the world and had a harem of Adepts.

Flotsam: Disclaimer: Ignira of Esperon does not own Golden Sun.

:::

As the days of rest progressed, Isaac's long and boring days were often cheered by Kiri's company. The Uranus Proficient and Isaac would swap stories. Kiri would tell him humorous stories about living with Carver, who would often sing hymns at the top of his voice on Holy Days, though he could not carry a tune. Isaac would tell Kiri stories from his travels. She would listen more intently than any audience Isaac had ever had, and he appreciated this.

This clued Isaac into Kiri's eagerness to leave her home and become Isaac's guide; Kiri probably missed the excitement of traveling like she'd used to with her father. Isaac wanted to ask Kiri about her father, but he was hesitant. Any discussion of Kiri's father, he guessed, would certainly upset her. He felt deeply sorry for the girl, and the way her father had died. He almost knew her pain; he had thought his father dead for three very long years. Still, Isaac felt there was a difference between losing a loved one in a tragic accident and a loved one being murdered by another living being.

Ethan, meanwhile, was acting increasingly anxious. He would keep pestering Isaac to see how he felt and to make estimates on how soon Isaac thought they could continue their journey. When he wasn't bothering Isaac about leaving, Ethan would demand to know all about Isaac's abilities. Isaac didn't like bragging, and so he wouldn't be too detailed in his assessment of himself as a swordsman and an Adept. Even so, Ethan would always seem either impressed or relieved. Finally, Isaac was fed up.

"Ethan, what do you want from me?" he finally demanded. Ethan feigned shock.

"I-_saac_," he pouted, and Isaac could sense that a long, melodramatic speech was about to follow.

"Every time you've come to check on me, you've been interrogating me all about my combat experience! I'm very experienced, okay? We'll be fine!" he bellowed.

"Alright," said Ethan, and as he went to wave his hand to show he was leaving, Isaac reached over and grabbed it.

"…Or are you trying to assess how I am in a fight because you're using me?" he growled.

"Of course not!" exclaimed Ethan, his voice a bit higher than usual. He tried to escape from Isaac's grip, but the Venus Adept held on tighter.

"What happened to all of your henchmen from when Kiri and I first met you?" he demanded. Ethan frowned and wouldn't meet Isaac's eye.

"And don't lie," Isaac quickly added. Ethan sighed and gently removed his hand from Isaac's grip.

"All will be explained in due time," Ethan announced dramatically, waving his hand.

"Actually, Ethan, I think now might be a good time, before we start traveling with you," Isaac shot back coldly. Ethan pouted again.

"Alright," he said, sinking into the chair by the bed that Kiri usually occupied, "When you met me on the boat, I was on the run."

"From your henchmen?" Isaac questioned, but Ethan shook his head.

"No, they were frightened off," he said sadly.

"By who?" asked Isaac.

"Her brother," replied Ethan, "He's a Pluto Proficient, a powerful one, too, so I can't blame the boys for abandoning me."

"OK, I think you should tell what happened from the beginning," said Isaac, lost. Ethan nodded and took a deep breath.

"So, there I am, in my underground lair, Love Shack impeccably furnished, men at my disposal, when a pair of travelers enters my cave. Normally when people pass through, you see, they seek coolness of my cave as a relief from the normally hot and arid climate and I usually take advantage of the situation.

"Anyway, my men have-excuse me-_used_ to have instructions to defeat trespassers in the cave unless they were pretty young maidens. They then were supposed to alert me. The girl, however, went ahead and started fighting my guards. When she finally reached the Love Shack and I found out she was a Saturn Proficient…." Ethan trailed off dreamily.

"Where was her brother while all of this was happening?" Isaac asked him. Ethan shrugged.

"Playing with dead people, I don't know. Anyway," Ethan sighed nostalgically, "You haven't the faintest idea of the chemistry between us. I tell you, Isaac, it was like electricity! Of course, I've always had a terrible weakness for female Saturn Proficients. After all, why, just look at how shamelessly I pursue Penette. Ah, she'll come around eventually, that one—"

"Please explain what happened with the Saturn Ade—er, Proficient and her brother," Isaac pressed impatiently.

"Yes, well, she wasn't quite right in the head, but this didn't bother me. We were getting along swimmingly when all of a sudden her brother discovered us…" Ethan seemed to be reliving the horror as he told Isaac this. He took a deep breath.

"I didn't know she was blind," he began, and Isaac's jaw dropped open, but before Isaac could exclaim his horror and disgust, Ethan pressed on: "Honestly, Isaac, it was dark and even if I'd known she was blind, it wouldn't have mattered because that girl was _not_ shy about getting what she wanted, I'm telling you."

Isaac had no idea what to make of Ethan's behavior, or his bizarre description of the Saturn Proficient.

"…so…then what happened?" he asked, hoping he was not unintentionally inviting unnecessarily vivid descriptions of what had happened between the Saturn Proficient and Ethan.

"We-ell," Ethan continued, "Her brother walked in on us. He was a rather protective older brother."

"Ethan, you were seducing his blind sister!" Isaac interjected indignantly, and then checked to make sure Kiri wasn't nearby to hear any of this. Ethan frowned at him.

"Wording it that way doesn't accurately describe what occurred. Vice versa might be, however. Anyway, long story made more brief, I barely managed to escape and I've been on the run from her brother ever since. What makes matters even more, uh…_dicey_ is that her brother is a more than competent Pluto Proficient," he said.

"What powers do Pluto Proficients have?" Isaac asked. Ethan raised his eyebrows and then leaned in, intrigued by the question.

"So it's true, what the girl told me. I thought she was a little deluded with fairy tales or something, but no…you're really not from this world, are you?" he asked him. Isaac didn't like the way Ethan looked at him, as though he was being surveyed for value.

"No, I'm not. What can Pluto Proficients do?" Isaac asked. After a moment more of studying Isaac, Ethan replied:

"Pluto Proficients are very rare to come across. All of them are wealthy because Pluto Proficients have the power to find valuables. Also, they have the…_unpleasant_ ability to manipulate the dead."

Isaac stared at him.

"Isaac, please take me with you. The powers I've inherited from Ilzero could make me useful to you, and I'm also an accomplished Neptune Proficient," Ethan pleaded, "And if we keep moving, we probably won't come across the Pluto Proficient anyway. I need a destination to go to now that I have no home, no purpose anymore, and more than that I need protection. I think an excellent warrior like you could help in that last case especially."

"Ethan, I won't fight this man for you. I think you deserve it," said Isaac bluntly.

"Very well, but at least take me with you. I was being honest when I told you that I owed you for saving my life," entreated Ethan.

Isaac took a deep breath. He was going to regret this, he knew.

"Alright."

:::

Nathaniel grinned and leaned over the side of the ship to feel the air in his face. His hair was whipped around by the wind, and he opened his mouth to taste the salty sea air. He smiled, and stood back up again. He loved nights in the middle of the sea on a boat. The blackness of night was wrapped around him like a cool blanket. Above were sparkling clusters of countless stars. He loved where he was right now. There was a warm calm in his chest that made time seem to pass at a pleasuably slower pace. The only way things could possibly be better? If Piers would let him Cast, startled bystanders be damned! Alas, how the sea water below was beckoning.

Behind him, Jenna and Garet were leaning over the ship, faces green. Nathaniel wondered what it would be like to be seasick. To his left, he overheard Sheba report to Felix that the Djinn had just about reached their destination, the river near Altmiller Cave, guessing by the maps on the ship. Nathaniel could not help but chuckle at the image of the little creatures flying a giant ship, and then felt a surge of concern for Piers' ship. He then made his way over to Sheba to ask if the Djinn had mentioned anything about accidentally damaging the ship, when Piers beat him to her and began to interrogate about his ship's condition. Sheba then laughed and waved Piers off, assuring him that everything was absolutely fine. Nathaniel relaxed, but Piers still seemed anxious.

There was then an announcement on the ship that they were about to make port.

"Excellent," Nathaniel heard Garet say hoarsely from the side of the ship.

Once they felt the ship stop, Nathaniel was nearly bowled over as the two Mars Adepts hurried to get off the ship as soon as possible. They somehow managed to beat the crowd of people that began to push and shove their way off the ship. Nathaniel growled indignantly at this.

He then became very irate at the conversation he overheard on his way off. A porcine, older man was growling to another:

"…lose my business because I can't use Psynergy to make my crops grow faster or bigger like me neighbors."

"Not natural, that Psynergy. Ask me, them Adepts should all find their own place to live and leave us normal folks alone. Tundaria'd be a right place for the lot of 'em."

He could make his way to only one of them, the man on the left with a bristly beard. Nathaniel, barely pretending he was trying to make his way through the crowd, elbowed him very hard in the ribs and hurried along.

On the docks, it was very crowded and difficult to move. Nathaniel saw that Jenna had found some crates and stood on one so that the others could see her. He made his way over to find Garet sitting on the crate next to hers. Upon seeing Nathaniel, he scooted over to make room for Nathaniel to sit.

"Thanks," said Nathaniel, obliging.

"Feeee-lix!" sang out Jenna, peering through the crowd.

Garet pointed towards Tolbi.

"You can't see it now because of all the people in the way, but this city is awesome. It has to be my favorite city in the whole world," he told Nathaniel.

"It is?" he echoed coolly. He could only harbor hatred towards Babi's city. Nathaniel could not help resenting Garet not only for loving Tolbi, but also for telling this right to his face. Of course, he considered that because Garet knew of Nathaniel's non-Lemurian origins, he might think Nathaniel did not have the same sympathies. On the other hand, Nathaniel had been raised in Lemuria. How could Garet _not_ assume Nathaniel identified himself with Lemuria? Then again, Nathaniel remembered that Garet could be a little dense sometimes. He tried not to smile as he remembered the way Jenna had put it once: "I've encountered rabid bats with better reasoning skills than Garet."

The crowd was thinning. Eventually, Nathaniel could see Tolbi.

He had to admit it was breathtaking. In the dark, one hundred colorful lamps lit the streets and candlelit windows glowed in the night. The buildings were all two-story, sometimes three-story. He couldn't see much more, but the lights were enough to make Tolbi admirable.

Sheba appeared and stood next to Nathaniel.

"Ugh, Tolbi," she spat, and Nathaniel was suddenly more fond of Sheba than before.

"Why aren't you and Piers best friends yet?" Garet asked her.

"Are you talking about me?" asked Piers, approaching with Felix.

"Gang's all here!" exclaimed Jenna. "Let's go!"

They made their way across the docks and were finally on solid ground. Jenna and Garet commemorated this by promptly kissing the ground.

"…what if the inn's full, like last time? Does anyone know if it's Colosso season?" asked Garet after he helped Jenna stand back up. As he asked this, a man was passing by, carrying a crate, and assured them that the Colosso entry trials weren't for two months. They thanked the man as he continued into the docks with his crate. Jenna then gave her brother the biggest smile Nathaniel had ever seen.

"Looks like she's about to ask Felix for something," Garet whispered to Nathaniel. Sheba heard this and giggled.

"Feeelix," cooed Jenna, "Would you mind finding the inn and getting us rooms while we check out the town? Pretty, pretty please? You can meet us after you do!"

"I'd rather not try to find a vacant inn with decent prices all by myself when this town is so huge, Jenna," replied Felix coolly.

"Actually, why don't I take care of it? I have no interest in exploring Tolbi," offered Piers grimly. He turned to Nathaniel and Sheba.

"I assume you two, having the same sentiments about Babi's city, will want to join me?" he asked them. They nodded.

"Oh? Are you sure?" asked Garet.

"I'd really rather just get the inn-acquiring part of the night over with, anyway," Nathaniel replied.

"Well, then Felix, how 'bout you join us?" suggested Jenna.

"I should really help them," replied Felix.

"Oh, the maybe we should join y—"Jenna began, but Garet interrupted.

"Looks like you guys have got it under control. We'll be seeing ya," he dismissed, and then took Jenna's hand. Jenna, obviously preferring to explore Tolbi, let Garet gently pull her towards the street.

"Excellent," said Sheba. Piers frowned.

"Do they expect us to find them when we're finished?" he asked irritably.

"Relax," said Sheba, "I'll just send them a telepathic message when we've got the rooms. Ooh, speaking of, I should tell Ivan we're here."

Her blue aura swirled for a minute or two as Sheba psychically communicated across the Karagol, and Nathaniel wondered enviously what it was like to be a Jupiter Adept.

"Ivan says that if we find the Order of Olympus, we should wait before we take action. He wants me to tell him when we do, because he and Mia are anxious to find out where Isaac is, and hopefully give a little payback. They're doing all they can for the students right now, but they'll teleport here as soon as I send word," reported Sheba.

"Great," said Nathaniel, "But they really shouldn't hold their breath. This city's huge."

Sheba laughed.

"You know, I actually told him that, ha!" she said, smiling.

And so they began a very long walk through Tolbi. It wasn't nearly as unpleasant as the other walking journeys Nathaniel had had to make with this group. For one thing, the odds were unlikely that any of them would be in mortal peril. For another, the scenery and temperature were far more pleasant than the miserable desert landscapes of the Lamakan at night. There were lights and color everywhere—blue, gold, and purple banners from what Nathaniel understood to be a Gondowan holiday were draped everywhere. The streets were absolutely packed with vendors and people—even more so than in Kalay. A whole street had nothing but Mars Adepts casting Psynergies for spectators to "ooh!" and "ah!" at. Music from Gondowan drums filled the air, and little Suhullan flutes trilled merry melodies. There was chatter everywhere, there was nothing but people. This made it rather difficult to stick with the group and communicate with each other. Sheba's telepathy did not make things easier, either—it was too loud for Nathaniel to hear himself think. And yet, he adored it. Though he preferred the sound of waves crashing against a ship, Nathaniel loved this experience, which was something he had never experienced in Lemuria.

It was at this moment that he was most proud of himself for sneaking onto Piers' ship and getting involved. What he was experiencing excited him. What was more, he had never been close to anyone so much as Piers, and here he was making friends with such fun, interesting people, like Sheba. Nathaniel was especially glad that he had met Sheba, another person who didn't know where they had come from. He smiled at her, and she smiled back and pointed to a stand nearby where a plump, rosy-faced woman was selling mugs of warm beer. He couldn't hear what she was suggesting, but he had an idea, and so they slipped away from Piers and Felix, gave the woman some coins, and clinked their glasses. They grinned at each other, drank deeply, clinked their glasses again, and then had a race to see who could finish first. It was the richest-tasting beer Nathaniel had ever tasted. Unfortunately, it was a tie, and Nathaniel began to reach in his pockets to see if he could afford a re-match. Sheba saw what she was doing and shook her head.

"We should rejoin the group!" she shouted in his ear. Nathaniel reluctantly nodded and they began to make their way through the sea of people towards Pier's blue hair.

"That was _definitely_ not the watered-down _piss_ you get in Yallam!" Sheba shouted in his ear. Nathaniel laughed.

They rejoined Felix and Piers, who appeared to not have notice their brief absence. Piers was bent over, his hand over his mouth, face red with laughter. Felix, meanwhile, clenched his jaw and began stomping along. Sheba poked Piers in the ribs.

"What happened?" she hollered. Piers held up a finger to signal that he needed a moment to regain composure.

"I'll tell you when I don't have to shout as much!" he replied. Sheba and Nathaniel were disappointed, but decided they would be patient.

At long last, after much walking and finding inns that were either too expensive or too shabby, they found a modestly priced inn, purchased two rooms, and trekked upstairs to said rooms, and flopped onto their mattresses.

"Our belongings are still on the ship," sighed Felix, and Nathaniel started to worry that they might have to get up and walk all the way to the ship and bring their heavy stuff back.

"…we'll get them in the morning, though," Felix finished, and Nathaniel relaxed.

He sighed and sunk into his soft mattress. It had certainly been a long day. He lay there for a few minutes, refusing to get up. Meanwhile, Felix and Piers undressed for bed and climbed under their sheets. Almost right away, Nathaniel could hear Felix quietly snoring from the bed next to his.

There was a knocking at the door, but Felix did not stir. Nathaniel sat up, but saw that Piers was getting it. He opened the door and Nathaniel could see Sheba standing in the hall. She peeked in to see that Felix was asleep.

"…so what happened that made Felix look so embarrassed?" she asked gleefully. Piers chuckled and let her in. Sheba tiptoed in and Piers gently closed the door behind her.

"Well," he said, "This—hang on, how come you two didn't see it?"

"We got separated from you guys for a moment," Nathaniel lied automatically.

"Ah," said Piers, "Well, you see, there was this man who was clearly inebriated who approached Felix and—"He chuckled. "—thought Felix was a woman."

Sheba laughed.

"An understandable mistake," she remarked.

"Anyway, the man attempted to grope Felix. Well, you can imagine what happened next. Felix broke his arm and pushed him into the crowd. The man looked so bewildered! I thought he might retaliate, but apparently Felix scared him off," finished Piers, who then started laughing again.

Nathaniel laughed so hard he could not breathe. After a few minutes of laughter, Sheba then added:

"Or perhaps the man didn't come back because he'd realized his mistake when he'd groped Felix!"

The three of them broke into a fresh chorus of laughter, and were relieved to see that Felix was sleeping so soundly that the noise did not disturb his slumber.

"Oh, Jupiter," sniffed Sheba, who was nearly crying from laughing so hard, "I can't wait to tell Jenna."

"Did you tell her we've found an inn?" asked Piers. Sheba nodded.

"You should have given her directions to the wrong inn as revenge for not helping us find one," said Nathaniel seriously. Sheba smiled and shook her head.

"Oh no," she smugly replied, "If I bother them, it might kill the romance."

Piers rolled his eyes.

"Ha ha," said Nathaniel, "But seriously, did you tell Jenna and Garet that we bought rooms?"

"Not yet," Sheba replied, yawning, "But I will. See you in the morning."

With that, she left the boys' room. Nathaniel sighed.

"Right, we have to start looking for the cult tomorrow," he groaned, and began undressing for bed. As he did this, Piers settled into his. Nathaniel blew out the candle on the other side of the room, and felt his way through the dark until he was sure he was climbing into his bed.

That night, he dreamt of what he'd remembered before, back in Lamakan's cave:

_The reflected lights glimmered through the water. A rushing sound poured through his ears. All around him was a swirling, purple glow. He looked around him to see submerged buildings. A light was coming from a ways off. If he could just keep Casting, propelling himself through the water, he could reach it….__Everything was shaking. He broke his focus and slammed into the coral. He was losing consciousness…._

He woke up in cold sweat. He sat up. Sunlight smiled in through the windows onto his bed. He'd been trying to make sense of this memory since Lamakan, but so far had come up with nothing more than the guess that this was what had happened before he'd washed up on Lemuria's shores. He hadn't told anyone about it, not even Piers. Where were these submerged buildings? Nathaniel rubbed his head. He was sick of this. He resolved to tell Piers about it; maybe he would know.

He looked over to see if Piers was up yet. The Lemurian was dozing softly. Nathaniel decided he may as well get dressed and ready. It was going to be a long day.

:::

Isaac stepped off the ferry, pleased that this time, things had been uneventful. Kiri appeared next to him.

"This is great!" she grinned, "I think we'll reach the Uranus Shrine today!"

Isaac was nearly overjoyed. He was getting closer and closer to finding his way home.

"I checked the map. All we have to do is continue north," said Kiri.

"We should probably eat our lunch as we walk, so we can save time," he said. He pointed to a stand set up nearby where two young men were selling sandwiches. Kiri frowned. Isaac knew it was because she preferred sitting down to eat. She did not complain, however, and ate her lunch as they went along.

They were following a dirt road through Tarnilla's savannah. It wasn't a very long walk, but the anticipation made time drag on. The grasslands were particularly hot, as it was the middle of the day. What made this even more unpleasant was Kiri and Ethan's constant complaining.

"Sweet Neptune! Couldn't we stop for another rest? This journey is so trying of the feet!" Ethan pleaded.

"No!" Isaac shouted.

What irritated Isaac the most about this was the fact that his experience in the Lamakan had been far worse than this, and yet Ethan's and Kiri's complaints were more annoying than his companions' had been.

"Ethan, Kiri, I _will_ leave you here so the crows can have their lunch. Please stop reminding me of the weather," Isaac finally told him off.

Isaac kept squinting to see if he could spot a tower in the distance. He'd imagined that it would be a pearly white tower, glinting in the sunlight. However, the landscape remained flat. Finally, he saw a line of blue in the distance. It grew larger and larger until Isaac realized they were walking towards the ocean. It sparkled in the sunlight.

"Kiri, are you sure we're going the right way?" he asked finally.

"Uh huh," Kiri replied confidently, "I had plenty of times to look at the maps while you were healing. Besides, I've been here before, remember?"

"Let's take a rest and look at the maps," suggested Ethan, who promptly plopped down in the dirt. Isaac was not annoyed by this, as he was about to suggest the same.

He wiped sweat from his forehead and knelt down. He removed his pack from his shoulders and opened it. He began looking for the map.

"You're wasting your time," said Kiri, "I know I'm right." Still, she sat down, too.

Isaac pulled out the map, but Kiri snatched it from him. She pointed at a point on the map on the northern part of Tarnilla, somewhere near the sea.

"See? We're—"she began to say, but then she looked at the map again and raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, wait. I read it wrong," she said.

"Oh no. Please tell me we're not far away from where we should be," begged Ethan.

"We're not," said Kiri matter-of-factly, "We're actually there. I thought we had to go a little further."

Isaac gaped at her.

"What do you mean? There's nothing here!" he snapped.

Kiri looked at him resentfully.

"Weren't you listening when I told you about the shrine?" he demanded.

"_Yes!_ You said it was in a tower!" Isaac argued.

"_No,_ I said it was high up," replied Kiri. Before Isaac could make of what she said, Ethan added:

"Uranus Shrine is in the sky. Everyone knows that, but I suppose you're an exception, being as foreign to Erutun as foreign could be."

Isaac swallowed, scarcely believing what he was hearing.

"You mean…it's in the clouds?" he asked.

"Yes!" Ethan and Kiri replied in unison.

Isaac understood now. This explained why Kiri had said that they would need her Psynergy to get in. He had just assumed it would be like an elemental lighthouse where the door needed a Psynergy to be Cast upon it or something.

"I'm sorry, Kiri," he said sincerely. She shrugged.

"I should think so. Annyway," she said, and grinned, "Are you ready to enter?"

Isaac smiled.

"Yes," he said.

Kiri stood up and helped him up. Ethan stood up, too, uncertainly.

"I should warn," he said, "I have a bit of a fear of heights."

"All Neptune Proficients seem to," sighed Kiri, "But that's really your problem, Ethan."

"How does this happen? What do you do?" Isaac asked her.

"There should be a little stone circle nearb—oh, there!" exclaimed Kiri. She ran a dozen paces to a flat, green rock in the dirt. There were intricate carvings of an ancient language that Isaac did not understand. The rock was the size of a round dinner table. Kiri stood on it, and motioned for them to do the same.

Ethan edged as far as he could away from the sides of the circle, his eyes wide with anxiety. Isaac felt he knew what was going to happen next. Kiri was grinning from ear to ear.

"Float," she giggled, and Isaac felt the rock wobble dangerously. He and Ethan instinctively grabbed Kiri's shoulders for support as the rock slowly began to leave the ground. She mocked them for this, and peals of laughter filled the grasslands as the three rose higher and higher in the air. The air became colder.

"I don't want to die!" shrieked Ethan as the ground became far, far away and the winds of the sky whipped around them. Isaac felt sympathy, but there was little he could do. The startling view was enough to make anyone frightened; he himself was holding Kiri tightly for support and trying very hard not to look down. Kiri, meanwhile, seemed to be having the time of her life. Isaac shut his eyes tightly and prayed for them to reach the Uranus shrine already.

At long last, he felt them halt. He opened one eyes, and then the other.

"Heeeere we are!" Kiri sang out.

They were surrounded by clouds. It was a fluffy, white landscape, almost like the scenery of Imil. Before them stood a series of metal walls, arranged like a geometric maze, all walls, and no ceilings. The structure shined in the sunlight, almost blindingly. There were holes in the walls shaped like the outlines of birds. It was bizarre. It was beautiful.

Ethan immediately leaped off of the rock and sailed into the cloud. His body bounced on the cloud—apparently the ground here was very soft.

"Ohhh fiiinally!" Ethan exclaimed. Isaac let go of Kiri and carefully stepped onto the cloud. It was almost spongy, like walking on a cake that hadn't been iced yet. Kiri followed him, rubbing her arms.

"You both were grabbing me so tight, it was like holding two scared cats," she observed ruefully.

"Sorry. Are you alright?" Isaac asked, embarrassed. She smiled.

"I'll be fine. Let's go get the blessed object!" she declared, and ran to the shrine. Isaac laughed and ran after her.

The outer part of the shrine had a perimeter of about 100 feet and was shaped like a hexagon. The next was a little smaller and shaped like a heptagon. Finally, there were just three walls, two side connected to a central metal wall at obtuse angles. Kiri and Isaac halted. There, floating above the three walls was a sickle. Isaac was pretty sure it was made of flint. It looked ancient. He stared at it, transfixed.

"What are you waiting for, Isaac? Take it!" Kiri urged. Isaac shook his head.

"It's never that easy, Kiri," he said. He knew this from all of his travels.

"It's just the three of us up here, now get that thing!" appealed Kiri. Isaac nodded. He hesitated, and then reached up and grasped it. As soon as his fingers closed over the handle, there was a rumbling. Isaac tensed up, preparing for whatever was going to happen. He unsheathed his sword and handed the sickle to Kiri.

"That thing's too old to be used as a weapon," he told her.

"Isaac, we should run," said Kiri, frightened.

"No, it's better to fight with walls around," Isaac said. Kiri swallowed and nodded. She stuck the sickle into her bag and stepped into a battle stance, holding her staff at the ready.

Isaac heard footsteps behind them and turned to see a man striding towards them. He was handsome and older, with platinum blond hair and pale, delicate skin. He wore shining, green armor made out of some sort of scaly animal's hide. Isaac felt himself stiffen with fear—the man had red eyes with no pupils. Next to him, Kiri was shaking.

"I am the guardian of this shrine," the man told them in a soft voice, "and I must ask you to return the blessed sickle you just stole."

"I can't. I need it to get back home," Isaac said levelly, trying not to betray his unease. The man was expressionless.

"Are you sure? I'll have to kill you if you don't give it back. You're already frightened; I can hear your heartbeats," whispered the man. Isaac's skin crawled.

"The Wise One told me this is the only way. I'm sorry," he said firmly. The man nodded. There was a very tense pause, and then, without warning, the man leaped into the air. Isaac prepared to block an attack, but the man was soaring upward over the walls.

Suddenly, his skin and limbs turned inside out and began to change. Isaac and Kiri watched the horrid transformation, mesmerized. An immense, red-eyed, green dragon with white fur appeared above them, the true form of the guardian. It stretched out its limbs.

Kiri hollered in surprise.

"It'll be ok," reassured Isaac, "I've fought dragons before." _Except all those times I had at least three other people with me who were a lot powerful than Kiri…_ he thought worriedly.

"Where's Ethan?" Isaac asked her, trying not to betray anxiety in his voice.

"He's probably where we left him, but that doesn't matter—there's no seawater or anything up here!" Kiri replied, panicking.

The dragon, now ready, reared back its head.

"That's ok, we don't need Ethan. We can probably take care of this ourselves," Isaac lied, "Now, Kiri, don't move just yet. We're going to dive out of the way at just the right moment. Do you trust me?"

"Yes, Isaac, I do," Kiri replied firmly. The dragon began to open its mouth.

"NOW!" Isaac shouted. He grabbed Kiri and rolled over to the side.

Isaac was blinded by a searing white light. There was an intense heat from where they had just been. Kiri screamed. Isaac leaped to his feet.

"Odyssey!" he roared. Two rapiers pierced the dragon's body, holding it in place, as a colossal sword stabbed at it, but, to Isaac's dismay, did not penetrate the dragon's scales.

"Isaac, look! It melted the walls!" Kiri yelled, pointing, but Isaac could already tell from the awful scent. He could not take his eyes away from his enemy, anyhow. The dragon was now hurtling towards them.

"Trade wind!" Kiri screamed, thrusting her staff. There was an immense gust of wind that forced the dragon's course of flight to shift away from them. Isaac suddenly appreciated Kiri's power.

"We need to penetrate its skin," said Isaac, watching as the dragon began to turn around, "Kiri, can you use your Psynergy to get me on the dragon's back?"

"I'll try," said Kiri, gritting her teeth. Isaac sheathed his sword.

"OK, just let it fly at us this time," Isaac ordered, and braced himself as the dragon neared them again. It was launching itself at them, flying faster than any man could possibly run.

"Do it now, Kiri!" Isaac cried.

"Isaac, you have to jump!" Kiri yelled. Isaac did so, and Kiri shrieked:

"Jetstream!"

Isaac felt his body propelled into the air so fast his neck nearly snapped. Focused, however, Isaac placed his hand into a groove in the dragon's back and hoped for the best. His body was whipping around in the air, barely anchored to the dragon. Isaac thrust his other arm onto the dragon's left shoulder and held on to dear life. He was certain he'd almost ripped his arm out of its socket, but he would have to persevere. His legs were still waving around in the air, and he pulled them to the dragon's back. He could now see Kiri on the ground, running out of the way. The dragon's jaw opened wide and Isaac's heart nearly stopped. He looked around to see if Kiri hadn't been bitten or swallowed, but managed to see her dodge the attack and use Trade Wind again to force the dragon away.

Suddenly, Isaac felt the muscles in the dragon's long neck twist, and he knew it was turning its head to attack him. He immediately scrambled up its neck in the hopes of getting behind the head in time, but the dragon must have been expecting this and swiftly turned its head. Isaac was thrown off the dragon's back. The wind rushed in his face as he plummeted into the cloud below. He landed just outside the walls of the shrine. The wind was knocked out of his and he felt a few ribs break. He was in pain, but he had to move quickly or he could die. He screamed as he forced himself to roll over. He was nearly blinded by the pain.

"Potent Cure, Potent Cure, POTENT CURE!" he wheezed as he watched the dragon rear back its head. His broken ribs mended themselves, and Isaac dove out of the way as a flash of blinding, searing light erupted from the dragon's mouth. Isaac fired a Grand Gaia at it, but because of the dragon's tough scales, the Psynergy only served as a sort of barrier, not an attack.

Just as the Psynergy was fading away, Ethan appeared beside him.

"Isaac," he said, "I'll try to assist in any way that I can, but I don't have a sword, so I need you to open your canteen so I can use Ilzero's powers to use it."

Isaac was shocked that Ethan was not only volunteering to put himself in danger, but also behaving with a sense of determination Isaac had never seen before. Nonetheless, he unscrewed the cap of the canteen at his side, and felt it almost instantly become lighter.

"Where's the little one?" Ethan queried, and Isaac pointed into the shrine.

"I need you to distract it so I can find her," Ethan told him, and Isaac nodded. He fired another Grand Gaia at the dragon and started making a run for the opposite side of the cloud. Near the edge, he turned around, panting, and saw the dragon racing after him. Isaac looked behind the dragon; Ethan was nowhere to be seen. Isaac then started following the edge of the cloud, trying to make his way back to the shrine. He fired Grand Gaia after Grand Gaia behind him. His heart was pounding in his ears. The adrenaline was coursing through him. He turned around to see the dragon dodging his Grand Gaia and shooting its body straight at him. It opened its jaws wide, and Isaac could see an array of shining teeth the size of bananas. He readied to roll over to the side, but the dragon was ready this time and jerked its head.

Isaac changed direction at the last time and rolled the opposite way, but, to his horror, he had fallen right off the cloud. He screamed in surprise as he saw the ground far below rising to meet him.

_**"FLOAT!"**_

Isaac's heart stopped as his body ceased its downward descent and slowly began rising. He thanked every god in existence. Waves of relief washed over his body.

He was back on the cloud. Kiri was standing by the edge, her eyes watering. She was breathing shallow breaths. Behind her, Ethan had his arm outstretched toward the dragon, which seemed to be writhing in pain. Feeling that it wouldn't be risky, he hugged Kiri very tightly and said:

"Thank you, oh, thank you."

"Ethan's forcing water down the dragon's windpipe," Kiri responded, "That should buy us some time. Let's go."

They ran together over to the dragon. Isaac could see now that below the chest of the dragon, there were no scales; only flesh.

"Just aim me at its underbelly," Isaac commanded Kiri. He pulled out his sword, braced himself, and jumped.

"Jetstream!"

His body slammed into the soft underbelly of the dragon, but Isaac had made sure to keep his sword steady. It pierced the soft flesh and the force of Kiri's Psynergy forced Isaac's arm all the way into the beast's stomach. He felt sick. He felt alive. He moved his arm in a great circle, cutting as many of the innards as he could manage. The dragon howled, and Isaac could feel its body falling to the ground. Thinking quickly, he pulled his arm out of the dragon and pushed off of its belly.

He landed on the cloud and rolled over. The cloud shook violently as the weight of the dragon crashed down on it. Isaac stood to view the corpse, but as he got to his feet, he felt them sinking into the cloud. He turned to Ethan and Kiri, who were noticing that they were sinking, too.

"The cloud's losing its magic!" he called to them. "Run!"

They hustled towards the rock as fast as they could. It was like running through thick mud. The rock was floating where they'd left it. The three of them reached it at the same time, and stood in the center of it. The rock began to sink at the same pace it had risen before. Isaac, unnerved that he had nearly fallen to earth, held his breath as he beheld the scenery. It was gorgeous at this height. Just as he was thankful that the rock was working fine, the dragon came back into view and his heart nearly stopped.

Blood dripped from the stomach of the giant green lizard. At first, Isaac thought with horror that it was still alive, but then saw that it was just the corpse sinking through the crowd. He watched, fascinated. Once free of the cloud, it plummeted to the earth. There was a deafening _BANG_ as it crashed into the ground, but Isaac didn't dare look to see what had happened from this height.

"Cool," said Kiri, "The force of the fall made a huge crack in the earth!"

"Will we land in it?" Isaac asked her worriedly. Kiri peered over the edge of the rock.

"If we hop off the rock at the right moment, we'll be okay, I think," she said calmly, but Isaac was not comforted by the idea of an impromptu jump that might result in falling down a crevice anyway. Still, there was nothing he could do but wait until they were near the ground.

"Do you still have the sickle?" he asked Kiri.

"Of course I do," said Kiri.

It then struck Isaac that a major leg of his journey to return to Weyard was now over. He sighed with relief. The hope of being reunited with his home was now refreshed. He would see Vale again. He was going to see his friends, his mother again. He was going to see Mia again. It was at this moment that Isaac made up his mind. He could not waste his time waiting and worrying any longer. Life was far too brief and unpredictable. When the moment was right, he decided, feeling bold, he was going to make his feelings known to her, no matter how he worried she might respond. What he wanted most at that moment was just to be sharing the spectacular view from this height of the sun setting on the grasslands with Mia.

:::

From the window in their bedroom, Jenna and Sheba could take in the giant size of the city. Today, they would finally find the Order of Olympus, Sheba was certain of it.

"We're so close," she told Jenna breathlessly.

"Do you know what I'm going to do when we find the Order of Olympus?" Jenna asked her hollowly. Sheba nodded gravely. She knew.

"I don't have to read your mind to know, Jenna," she said.

"Do you know what I am going to do when we find Isaac?" Jenna asked her.

"I don't know what you're going to do, but I'm honestly going to hug him so tight, Felix will have to Cast Revive," said Sheba seriously. Jenna smiled.

"Well, first, I'm going to beat him within an inch of his life for making us all worry so much…" she began. Sheba laughed.

"And then?" she asked.

"And then…I don't know. I'll probably end up kissing him again," said Jenna. Sheba froze.

"…again?" she repeated, shocked. She stopped herself from adding "But what about Garet?"

"Again," Jenna grinned.

:::

IOE: Well, that was an unexpectedly mushy ending for both paths of the story. Please review!


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